Bound & Restrained (A Derek Hale Love Story)
by xXRockerChicXx
Summary: A story I originally posted on Quibblo
1. Beacon Hills

"Rach, come on, you can drive faster than that."

"Oh, shut up, i'm not trying to get arrested." We all laughed.

Rachel, Kay, and I were headed to Rachel's house in Beacon Hills, that'd been left to her by her grandparents. We'd left our previous town to get out on our own, and this was the perfect place. Rachel had already gotten a job set up at the hospital, and I was going to go to the high school.

"Oh, Kay, did you remember to grab my pills for me?" I took

sleeping pills at night for my insomnia, or else i'd wake up every hour or so, or not sleep at all. Kay shook her head. I cursed loudly.

"Can you get more?"

"Maybe...It'll take a few days though, if the pharmacy here even carries them." My sleeping pills were very strong, and few pharmacies carried them, because they weren't usually prescribed to anyone. I usually had to get mine from the hospital pharmacy where we'd lived.

"We can go after we get settled in. Do you need to see a doctor to get a new prescription?" I nodded. "Then Rachel can take you to the hospital then when she goes for her new job. Right Rachel?"

"Yeah, yeah...Just don't expect me to be doing you any favors like bring you pills when you lose yours." She'd gotten in trouble several times for doing that before.

"Thanks Rach. Hey, isn't this it?"

Rachel pulled into a driveway, up to a big house with a multi-car garage and a huge yard.

"Wow Rachel, your grandparents must've been loaded." She laughed.

"Yeah. And since I was their only grandchild, I got it all." We got out and she went and unlocked the door, and Kay and I started grabbing boxes and bringing them in.

The inisde of the house was huge, and furnished nicely. A flat-screen and surround system graced the sitting room, with two white leather couches and a recliner, and a marble-topped coffee table in the center of it all. The other rooms were just as nice.

"You know Rach, I think I love you a lot more now." She laughed again.

"Just don't go all lesbian on me. I do like my men." Now I laughed.

"Oh, I don't think we have to worry about that. With my devilishly good looks and awesome personality, I should have no problem finding guys."

"Like you did before. Everyone always thought your white hair was weird. Still is, in my opinion..." I made a face and she stuck her tongue out at me.

"You're just mad because it's awesome. And who knows, maybe guys here will think it's cool. It's a small town, they tend not to get awesome people like me very often." She rolled her eyes and went out to the car for more boxes.

I took my stuff upstairs and into the master bedroom. A king-size bed with a cherrywood frame and matching dressers were spread about the room, and what looked like black silk adorned the pillows and hung from the poster bedframe.

"I call the master bedroom!" I heard groans coming from downstairs and laughed. I set my things on the dresser and laid on the bed, and smiled. It was incredibly soft. Rachel and Kay came in and laughed when they saw me. "This is awesome...Come lay down, you'll love it." They laid on either side of me, and let out sighs.

"This is awesome...Screw you for calling it first...even though it's my house."

"Yeah...I might just have to sneak in here while you're sleeping, Ian." We all laughed and got up.

"Hey, what do you say we go into town and get something to eat? I haven't eaten since last night and i'm starving..."

"Sure, just let me get my last box out of the car." Kay and I followed Rachel downstairs and as she got her last box out of the car, and Kay hopped in the driver's seat. "Hey!"

"You drove all the way here, so i'm relieving you of your duty...Plus you don't get to drive an Audi everyday, you know."

"You do." I laughed as Rachel climbed into the seat with me. "You just didn't want to be squished up with me in the passenger seat..."

"That too." Kay backed out of the driveway slowly, then sped up considerably once we were on the road.

In town, we passed the high school and several homes before getting into the center of town, and Kay pulled over to the first pizza place we saw. Her and Rachel took a seat at a booth and I went up to order. 10 minutes later, I carried our large meat-lovers pizza and 3 large sodas to the table and we ate. Rach and Kay talked a little, mostly about Rachel's new job and what the town would be like, but I just stared out the front windows at the passersby.

It looked like a pretty standard town, Beacon Hills:nice houses, nice cars, some restaurants and stores, and pretty normal looking people. Some older people, some kids, and a lot of teenagers. Perfect.

As I finished off my fourth peice of pizza, Rachel and Kay were still talking, I stood up and headed for the door. Their heads turned in my direction.

"I'm gonna go outside for a bit, get a feel for the town. Meet you back here in an hour or so?"

"Just don't get yourself hurt or anything, Ian." I nodded at Rachel and opened the door, and got blasted by a breeze of cool air.

I pulled my hoodie tighter around me and shoved my hands in my pockets, and walked down the street towards the center of town. I passed more stores and the hospital, and as I passed the downtown area, an animal hospital. I went in and there was a bald black guy at the front desk, and someone else in back. The guy at the front desk smiled.

"How can I help you?"

"Oh, i'm new in town, trying to get a feel for things around here. Do you guys...sell pets here?" He nodded.

"Sometimes we find abandoned or hurt animals, and we keep them until someone wants to adopt them. Would you like to see them?" I nodded. "Scott! We have someone that wants to see the pets up for adoption."

"One minute." I heard the clang of a cage and an attractive boy came out of the back. He had brown hair and tan skin, and bright brown eyes. Almost reminded me of a boy Rachel used to date...He held out a hand to me and I shook it. His skin was very warm. "Scott McCall, resident animal expert." I smiled a bit.

"Ian Moore, new girl in town." His head turned a bit at the mention of my name. I shrugged and said "My parents thought I was going to be a boy, hence the name." He chuckled.

"You said you wanted to see our animals? Follow me." I followed him behind the fornt desk and into the back room. The was an examination table and a counter with a sink to one side, and on the other side of the room were several cages, each with an animal. "As you can see, there's a few cats, a couple puppies, and one older dog. She's been here a while, because everybody wants puppies..."

"What kind of dog is she?"

"A pitbull/rottweiler mix, I think...She's actually very nice."

"And this one...what breed is this?" I pointed to a small black puppy.

"Great Dane, another female. We think she might be the runt because of how small she is." I got close to the Great Dane puppy, and she put a paw to the cage door, and I smiled.

"How much for the big one and this puppy?" Scott shook his head.

"We do free adoptions here, no payment is neccesary."

"Well...how much is the average donation? I feel like I have to give something."

"Well, we do accept donations...I guess whatever's fine. I'll go get the paperwork for your new dogs, ."

""Please, it's Ian." He went to get the paperwork and I went back out to the front desk guy. "Where should I be giving my donation?"

"Did Scott tell you about our free adoption policy?" I nodded.

"I told him I wanted to donate something anyway."

"Well, you can give that to me, and i'll put it in the safe." I pulled out my wallet and handed him the contents:$500. He went a little wide-eyed. "Thank you very much, this will come in handy taking care of the other animals."

"Hey, I live to take care of animals." I went in back and Scott had the paperwork out on the countertop. As I started filling it out, I asked him "You look young. You go to the high school?" He nodded.

"Are you in high school?"

"Yeah, i'm a senior. I start tomorrow. Me and my friends Rachel and Kay just moved into town today, into a house Rachel's grandparents left her. You're the first person i've met here." He chuckled.

"I'm honored. Maybe I can bring a couple of my friends over for a little housewarming? I know they're probably bored out of their minds." His brow furrowed and I got the impression he was lying, but I didn't pursue it.

"Cool. I can give one of them a ride, if there's not enough room in your car."

"Oh, my friend Stiles has his jeep. No car for me...Anyway, I think it'd be cool. Mind if I bring my girlfriend Allison?"

"Sure...See you tomorrow morning Scott?"

"Absolutely...Ian." I took my two new dogs by the leashes and walked them out the front door, waving to the front desk guy as I passed.

As soon as we were outside, the two dogs got excited, running more and jumping around. I could tell it'd probably been a while since they had a good, long walk. The big dog's leash in my left hand and the Great Dane puppy's in my right, I walked back towards the pizza shop.

Rachel and Kay were just coming out, and went wide eyed when they saw me.

Kay said "Where'd you get those dogs?"

"The animal hospital had them up for adoption. The guy, Scott, said they'd been there for a while and hadn't been adopted yet..." Kay held up a hand.

"Wait a minute...Scott? Don't tell me you've started flirting with people already!" I laughed.

"He works there, and goes to the high school. After my first day tomorrow, he said he'd bring a couple friends over for a 'housewarming'. I thought it was a good idea, considering we don't know anybody yet."

"If you throw a party and ruin the new house..."

"Relax, he didn't seem the type of guy to throw parties on a whim. Besides, his girlfriend Allison will be there."

"I guess that's better...What do you think Rach?" She shrugged.

"Sounds okay to me, as long as only a few people come. It'd be good to meet new people, you know? Maybe meet a new guy...But why'd you buy the dogs?"

"Because I wanted them and it was my money. I'll walk them back to the house so they don't scratch up your car, Rach." She nodded.

"Don't take too long. We're in a new city and you never know what might happen...Plus I want to make dinner for us, and don't want you to be late."

"I'm not going to be late, its only like 3 miles away...Besides, both me and these dogs need to stretch our legs a bit. See ya in an hour or so." Rachel and Kay waved out of the car window as they got in and drove away.

I started walking in the same direction they'd drove off in, one dog leash in each hand. I smiled as they attempted to pull me along, but neither had much strength to do so. I kinda felt sorry for them...

As we walked slowly along, I noticed that it was starting to get dark, fast. I could see the sun barely clearing the tops of the trees on the edge of town, and hurried the dogs along. It wasn't that I was afraid, I could handle myself well enough, but I didn't want anyone to try to take my dogs. I really had to think of names for them...

As I passed one of the last buildings in town and started on the road through the woods, the sun began to sink further, and I feared an oncoming car might not be able to see me and the dogs.

As I turned to look behind me, a pair of headlights approached and slowed down, and I saw that it was a Jeep with Scott in the passenger seat.

"Hey Scott. You live up this way?" He nodded.

"Oh, Ian, this is Stiles. Stiles, Ian." I nodded at the guy in the driver's seat. "What are you doing out here so late? It's probably not a good idea."

"I can handle myself."

"Against a wild animal? Like a bear or...a wolf?" I noticed his slight hesitation at the word wolf.

"I know what to do in those types of situations, and having a pocket knife helps." Both Scott and Stiles' eyes went wide as I reached down my shirt into my bra and pulled out my folded pocket knife. As I put it back, I said "Forget you saw that. Rachel and Kay would kill me if they knew I was carrying..."

"I won't tell, don't worry. I'm sensible enough to know a girl needs protection. Do you need a ride too? I'm sure we could fit the dogs in the back seat..." Stiles groaned a bit, and I chuckled, knowing he was probably imagining his ruined backseat.

"It would help...Do you mind Stiles?"

"It's...alright. Just make sure they don't take a dump on my seats." I laughed and ushered the dogs toward the Jeep.

I ended up being squeezed up against the window, both dogs on my left, and the window of the Jeep to my right.

As Stiles put the Jeep into gear and started driving, I heard the distinctive howl of a wolf, and it sounded relatively close by.

"See? Like I said, wolves..." Again, there was the note of disdain in his voice. Had something happened to make him hate the animal? I couldn't see it. I loved wolves more than any other animal, for their beauty and abilities. He/ll, i'd probably be a wolf if I had the chance.

As I heard the howl again, I felt a small twitch in my neck and my hairs stood on end. I looked out the window and, impossible as it seemed, I saw a glimpse of a pair of shining red eyes looking at the Jeep as we drove. I shook it off. Maybe I was hallucinating. It wouldn't be the first time.

As Stiles pulled up to the house and Scott got out to let me and the dogs out, I couldn't shake the feeling there was someone watching. I looked around, but didn't see anyone.

"Scott...do you feel something...weird?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Weird? No. Might just be that you're new and it's nighttime and...stuff..."

"Maybe, but I could've swore someone was..." I stopped and froze in place as I heard the crunch of leaves on the ground. I turned and didn't see anyhitng right away, but a few second later, a lone figure came striding up the driveway. Scott stepped between me and the person, who was still hidden by the darkness.

"Stiles, would you take Ian and the dogs inside the house please?"

"Sure...Ian, would you come on..." He took the dogs' leashes in one hand and pulled on my arm with the other, but I didn't budge.

"You can go inside if you want, i'm not moving. I wanna know what the he/ll is going on, and who the he/ll is on my property." Stiles went up on the porch and knocked on the door, and was welcomed inisde my Rachel. When she looked at me oddly, I waved her away, and she went back inside. I knew either her or Kay would probably be looking out the curtains within seconds.

"Ian, it'd be a really good idea if you'd go inside...For your sake." His voice seemed lower, almost like a growl.

"My sake, my a/ss. If someone wants trouble with you, they're gonna have to go through me. My property, remember?" Scott tensed up as the figure finally got to us, and was illuminated by the porch light.

He was tall and lean, with tan skin and windblown black hair, and the most beautiful green eyes i'd ever seen. He approached wearing dark jeans and a leather jacket, hands jammed into the pockets. He practically screamed bad-boy loner.

Scott forced an a smile and introduced him. "Ian, this is Derek Hale, my...aqquaintance. Derek, this is Ian. She just moved here today." He simply nodded, looking uninterested. I kept staring into his bright green eyes, and as they moved to look at me, we held eachother's gaze for several minutes.

"Hey." Derek's voice was gruff, and extremely se/xy. I glanced back at the house and saw Kay, Rachel, and Stiles peeking through the curtains at us. There was something interesting about how Scott and Stiles reacted to Derek...I wanted to know why.

As I stood there and looked him up and down in the awkward silence, a strange feeling spread through me. Not a yearning type of feeling like i'd expect, but something...angry. Hatred, rage, fury. As I stifled the urge to tear something to shreds, I wondered why such feelings would come up when I just met the guy. Maybe it had something to do with the way Scott had tensed up as he approached.

"I'm going to head inside awhile, and the two of you can have a few minutes alone, but you'd better come inside. I won't force Stiles or myself to eat what Rachel's made without a little support." Both of their eyes followed me as I turned and went into the house, shutting the door silently behind me.

Rachel and Kay rushed over as soon as I was inside. "Who was that?"

"A friend of Scott's. I told them that they're staying for dinner, because i'm not eating your food alone." Rachel made a face and went into the kitchen with Kay. Stiles came over to me, looking hesitant. "Yeah, I know, I lied to them. Big deal."

"It's not that they're not friends, some...things, came between them recently." I nodded.

"Why don't you head out into the dining room awhile, get yourself seated." Stiles nodded and walked into the other room. I plopped down on the couch, right in front of the windows they'd been peeking out of. I turned and looked out the curtains, and it appeared that Scott and Derek were arguing. They weren't loud, not at all, but I could somehow still hear what they were saying...

"What are you doing here Derek?"

"I saw you pick up that girl and decided to follow you. What did you expect? You did notice, didn't you?"

"Notice what?"

"Don't lie to me Scott. You know she's one of us. I could smell it on her from all the way over here..."

"If she somehow was, why didn't she point either of us out?" I saw Derek shrug.

"I don't know, but i'm going to find out." They turned and started toward the house and I quickly shut the curtains. I appeared in the hallway just as they opened the door and entered. Derek looked at me suspiciously.

"Glad the both of you could stay. Follow me." I led them into the dining room and Scott sat beside Stiles, and Derek sat beside the chair at the head of the table, where I was going to sit. I narrowed my eyes at him as I sat, and Rachel and Kay brought the food out and sat it on the table.

Rachel had made orange chicken, and there was also white rice topped with spanish pork, which I had guessed Kay made. Rachel could never make rice right, simple as it was. I stood and dished some out to each of the 3 guys, then myself. Derek removed his leather jacket to reveal a black T-shirt stretched over a sculpted torso.

"Derek?" I held my hand out and he handed me his jacket, and I walked it out to the hall closet. On the way, I patted the pockets but there was nothing inside. When I got back, everyone had started eating, and Rachel and Kay had already started fawning over the guys, especially Derek. I smiled as I sat.

Rachel and Kay asked him multiple questions at a time, and he replied with simple one-word answers. They eventually gave up and turned to Scott and Stiles, and I smiled further. Derek turned to me, a look of indifference still on his face.

"Happy?"

"Amused. You seem to have a knack for repelling people."

"And yet you don't seem to be repelled." My smile disappeared as I stared Derek down. I didn't miss the occaisional glance from Scott as he talked to Kay.

I spoke in a hushed tone. "I'm not as easily fooled as they are. I know something's up with you. I saw you arguing with Scott outside."

"Did you hear us as well? You should be able to." I bit my lip, and a look of satisfaction took over Derek's face. "You are one of us. Whether you admit it to me or not, I know you are."

"Are what? You said the same thing to Scott outside, and I still don't know what you're talking about." A look of frustration replaced the satisfaction.

"You mean...you don't know? You don't know what you are? How could you not?" I shrugged. "Don't you ever go out at night, hear the wolf howls, see the full moon?" I shook my head.

"Still not knowing what it all means, no. I have insomnia, so I take sedatives to keep me asleep during the night." Derek leaned in closer to me, and I noticed Scott tense up. I knew he could probably hear our entire conversation.

"That's not insomnia, that's your natural urge to go running into the woods at night, to let your human inhibitions go, to howl at the full moon...Do you understand now?" I stared blankly at him, unwilling to accept what he was saying. The howling, the moon, the woods...A wolf? He was insinuating that I was a wolf? Impossible! I was obviously human. Unless...

I laughed out loud and everyone looked at me.

I leaned closer to Derek and whispered "Impossible. What you're insinuating doesn't exist, it's a myth."

"A myth, huh?" As I looked into his eyes again, they flashed bright red, like the eyes i'd seen on the way over here. Could that have been Derek on the side of the road? As his eyes returned to normal, he said "It's no myth. I was born with it, and Scott was bitten. You don't look like you've been attacked, so i'd say you were born with it too." I shook my head, refusing to believe it.

I stood and walked away from the table, out into the front room. I could hear Derek's quiet footsteps following me, and behind him, Scott. Scott approached me as Derek stood across the room.

"Scott, please tell me what he was saying isn't true...it can't possibly be true!"

"I'm sorry, but it is, unbelievable as it sounds. I didn't take too kindly to it at first either...But you'll adjust. I did." I shook my head.

"You're crazy...And what's the deal with you two anyway? What's with all the tension?"

"Derek is...the alpha. The leader of the wolves in Beacon Hills. Right now, that's just us three here."

"I know what an alpha is...And he's no leader of mine. I don't take orders from anyone." Across the room, I saw Derek's eyes flash red again. He was irritated.

"Don't think you can move into my territory and act this way...You'll have to join the pack, or be left to defend yourself." I raised an eyebrow. "Scott's girlfriend..." He said it with a hint of loathing. "is a member of a wolf-hunting family that helped kill my family years ago. Scott and I are peaceful with them now-for the most part-but that doesn't mean they'll welcome you with open arms. You won't last by yourself."

"How do you know?" He jerked his thumb at Scott.

"He tried and got shot, and I had to save him. Several times. The last alpha tried to kill the both of us, and I had to protect him. I killed the alpha, and now i'm alpha."

"Who was it?" Scott looked at the floor, and Derek looked me directly in the eyes.

"My uncle. He rampaged through the town and killed several people, and turned Scott. But he's dead now...No threat to you, obviously. But that doesn't mean you can protect yourself alone. You've obviously never used your wolf capabilities." I narrowed my eyes at him again.

Still looking at Derek, I said to Scott "Why don't you take Stiles and get outta here? I need to talk privately with Derek." Scott hesitated before going into the dining room to grab Stiles. I heard him mutter something to Rachel and Kay about his mother, and they appeared. Scott nodded at me before he and Stiles went outside, and I heard Stiles' Jeep go down the driveway.

I led Derek outside onto the porch and shut the front door.

"About this pack thing..."

"We're stronger as a pack, more able to protect ourselves against threats." I nodded.

"I'll need time to think about it. This is all so...unreal to me."

"But it is real. You can't deny that. Just like you can't deny being able to hear your two friends talking about us in the kitchen right now." I could hear Rachel and Kay squealing about how Derek and I would look together. I smiled.

"That is kinda cool, to be able to hear them like that. But I have to ask...The full moon. What happens then?"

"You'll change...Not fully into a wolf, but you'll change and probably lose all control, go purely on animal instincts. It can be...messy, if not properly handled."

"Will you help me handle it?" He waited a moment, then nodded.

"I don't want any more people to get hurt, so I will..."

"Thank you." Against what I was thinking, I wrapped my arms around Derek, embracing him in a hug. I smiled to myself when he hugged me back. "See? Being a little compassionate isn't that hard."

"Easy for you to say." Derek slipped into his jacket and stuffed his hands into his pockets, and walked away. I waited until he was out of sight to turn around and head back into the house.

Instead of going to the dining room to face Rachel and Kay, I headed upstairs to my bedroom and plopped down on the bed. I kicked my shoes off and went under the covers, pulling them tight around me.

I was unable to get to sleep though, not because of the insomnia, but because of all the thoughts swirling around in my head. Images of Scott, Derek and me morphing into hideous mutated wolves, blood spattered everywhere, a dead body on the ground...

I shuddered at the thought.


	2. Derek

I slipped on a pair of faded

bootcut jeans, my dark blue Nike hightops, and black Philly Flyers hoodie. It was my first day of school and I figured I could look nice for once.

Rachel was waiting down in the sitting room, dressed in scrubs with her bag in hand. It was also her first day of working at the Beacon Hills hospital.

When I came down the stairs, she said "Finally! I was about to leave without you."

"Yeah, but you wouldn't leave me to walk the 2 miles to school, now would you?" She laughed and we headed out the door. "Hey, do you mind if I drive? It'd be awesome if I could roll up to school in an Audi on the first day."

"You know how to drive?" I glared and Rachel laughed, throwing me the keys.

"I'm not an idiot, you know."

"I know, I was just making a joke. Seriously though, who taught you to drive?"

"Kay."

"She didn't tell me that."

"I didn't want her to. I know you would've freaked if you found out." Rachel shrugged as we got in and I started the car. I turned the car around and headed down the driveway, looking both ways before pulling out. It was a relatively empty road, but I liked to be sure. Plus, I wanted to see if Derek would be watching like he did last night, when Scott and Stiles gave me a ride.

I hurried into town and dropped Rachel off at the hospital, and she gave me a warning before getting out of the car.

"If you crash my car, you're gonna pay for it."

"Relax, I know what i'm doing." She nodded unsurely and got out, heading into the hospital. I turned the car around and headed back out of town, towards the direction of the school.

I arrived several minutes later, and after scanning the parking lot, pulled in next to Stiles' familiar blue jeep. He and Scott were just getting out. Stiles waved before heading inside, and Scott waited for me to get out of the car.

"Nice car. Yours?"

"Rachel's. Hear from Derek since last night?" He shook his head. "I need to talk with him..." We started to the school as the warning bell rang.

"Have you thought about things?"

"I spent the entire night up...I feel horrible right now. I thought back and I think you and Derek might be right about me...I feel stupid now that I never knew."

"It's not your fault, Ian...You were just lucky to avoid it until now...It's not entirely something you're gonna want either..." I looked up at Scott.

"Was it bad for you, when you first turned?" He nodded.

"It's still tough sometimes...But I have people to help me deal with it now."

"Allison?" He chuckled.

"I didn't think you'd remembered. She and her family might be hunters, but after the whole alpha thing, they don't mind what I am so much. I'd protect Allison with my life again if I had to." I smiled, but not a happy smile.

"I wish I had someone willing to say that about me...You're lucky to have Allison, Scott."

"I'm sure you'll find someone...With the way you look, everyone will be wanting to know you. See? Everyone's looking already." As we entered the school, everyone's eyes were indeed on me. I could hear them whispering about my hair already.

"I'm heading to the office...See you later." Scott waved as I headed over to the main office to sign in.

I gave the secretary my name and she pulled up my schedule and printed it, along with a list of all the school slubs and associations.

"We encourage participation in extra-curricular activities here. I hope there are some clubs that will interest you."

"So do I." As soon as I left the office, I crumpled the activities list and looked at my schedule. I had Chemistry first.

It took me several minutes to find to right room, and I was 5 minutes late getting there. The teacher, a thin man with glasses, didn't mind, since it was my first day.

I chose the empty seat behind Scott and Stiles, next to a blonde kid. Scott nodded as I passed. I sat and directed my attention towards the front of the room, trying to ignore everyone else. I could hear all their little conversations though, most geared toward me and my hair. It was annoying. I don't know how Scott did it every day.

"Hey." I turned to the kid beside me, who seemed to be the one who'd spoken. "I'm Jackson." He held out a hand, but I didn't take it.

"Hey Jackson." I turned back towards the front.

"Come on, you can't have a conversation with me? I'm sure with you being new and all, you haven't met many people."

"I've met plenty, and I don't need one more." I heard Scott laugh from the table in front of us, and I smirked.

"Don't tell me it was them?" He jerked his thumb toward Scott and Stiles, and I nodded. "You'll be soon disappointed. They're deficient."

"In what, exactly? Raging hormones?" This time, both Scott and Stiles broke out in laughter, and the teacher looked over. Jackson scowled and I felt satisfied. I didn't really want to get to know him. I could tell already that he was a jerk.

The class was pretty boring, just review, and it was stuff I already knew. Payoff from being in AP classes, I suppose. I followed Scott to his next class, since we had almost all of them together.

He sat beside a pretty brunette girl that I immediately took to be Allison. Scott introduced her.

"Ian, this is Allison. Allison, this is Ian, the new girl."

"Hey." We waved to eachother.

The rest of the day was spent mostly by me trying not to rip my ears off, because of the constant noise. I could hear _everything._ Around the end of last period, Scott really noticed, and pulled me aside.

"You okay Ian?" I shook my head.

"Noise is giving me a migraine...How do you handle it?"

"You eventually learn to tune it out. It helps if you focus in on just one thing, that way it's easier to ignore the rest."

"You seem so...Like you know what you're doing." He shrugged.

"Derek helped me to control it. He was always there for me, even when I didn't want him to be. I guess...I sorta respect him for it."

"Lucky...He must've been a great teacher. I hope he can help me like he did you." Scott bit his lip.

"Ian...Do you want me to take you to him? I can probably help you, but I have my mom and Allison, and I can't be there all the time..." I nodded. I understood completely. I had to take care of Rachel and Kay now.

"You can just give me directions, and i'll walk there afterschool." He looked hesitant. "Don't worry, i'll be fine. I may not know how to control my wolf side, but I still know how to defend myself."

Scott wrote down the directions on a peice of paper and I stuck it in my pocket.

After school was over, I drove to the hospital and dropped the keys off with Rachel. She asked why, and I said i'd rather walk, plus she needed a way home.

The directions Scott gave me led me way out of town, to a small road that led through the woods.

There were fallen leaves everywhere, and nobody around for miles, I guessed. I couldn't hear anyone for a while, and felt just a little lonely. I'd been able to hear everyone doing everything all day, but now it was just silence.

After a while, after the sky had darkened a bit, I came upon what Scott described as Derek's house. It hardly looked habitable.

It was dark and grey, and half of the roof was missing from what looked like fire. I could see the scorch marks from an old fire on the outer walls, and the windows were dark. It looked like nobody lived there, except for the Black Camaro peeking out from beside the house gave it up. Somebody had to be here for that thing.

As I approached the house, I could hear faint noises, as If someone were moving around inside. I stepped up onto the porch, the floorboards creaking beneath my feet, and looked inside. Nobody appeared to be there, but I could still hear something.

Without knocking, I opened the door and stepped inside. As I closed the door, I turned and gasped.

Derek was hanging from a doorway, shirtless and sweaty, doing pull-ups. I stood and watched him for a moment, silent. I'd never tell him, but daaang I wished I could touch that body. I smiled, giggling internally.

He dropped onto his feet and turned to me, droplets of sweat running down his sculpted chest. I resisted the urge to reach out and grab him, and looked down.

"Didn't think you were coming." I bit my lip.

"Did Scott tell you I was coming?" I looked up just long enough to see him nod. "Had to come sooner or later...I figured it might as well be sooner."

He went and grabbed a towl that was hanging on the couch and sat, and I sat on the opposite end. As he wiped the sweat from his face, I finally looked him in the eyes. Those bright green eyes...I practically wanted to cry.

"Scott...He told me that you were the one who taught him how to control his instincts and...urges, to keep from going berserk everytime his heart rate got up. I saw how well off he is..."

"And you want to be like that too." I nodded. "Like I said before, I don't want anyone in this town to get hurt again, so i'll help you. I can't promise it'll be easy for you..." I smirked, and blushed slightly.

"Just because i'm...a woman, doesn't mean you have to go easy on me." He nodded, and I didn't miss the way his eyes raked up and down my body.

My ears begun to fill with the sound of my own heartbeat, fast and strong. Being around Derek, especially how he was now, it made my heart beat double-time. Head feeling woozy, I gripped the couch with both hands to keep from falling over.

"Well, woman...You should prepare yourself. It might take a while for you to get a handle on yourself. You'll have increased strength and stamina, but less control on things like emotions and inhibitions..." He eyed me again as he said this, and I knew he could hear my heart racing. "Are you okay..?"

I shook my head, just as I slumped against the couch. My muscles began to tense up, and I felt the urge to let myself change, and my eyes filmed over red.

Derek rushed to me and put his hands on my shoulders, looking into my face.

"Ian! Come on, you can't change now...Calm yourself down, you can control this..!" He leaned over me, and put a hand to my face, and turned me to face him. "Come on deep breaths, you can do it..."

Against my urges, I took several deep breaths, and tried to relax myself.

After several tense minutes of deep breathing and tightly shutting my eyes, I felt my muscles loosen and my heart begin to slow. Once it seemed to be back to normal, I took one last breath before opening my eyes.

Derek was still leaned over me, hands on either shoulder, looking worriedly into my face.

"Are you fine?" I nodded slowly. He sat beside me, sliding his hands down my arms, locking them around my wrists. He lifted one of my hands up to his level, and put an ear to my wrist. I looked at him oddly, then realized he was listening to my pulse.

After several minutes of this, he seemed content, and released my wrist. But instead of withdrawing right away, I put my hand to his cheek, and we looked into eachother's eyes. I could see my blue eyes reflected in his green ones, which were filled with worry, and just a hint of desire.

Then I said something I hadn't meant to.

"You coop yourself up in this house all alone, and don't let anyone in to what you're really thinking and feeling...Why?" He looked down momentarily, staring at my left hand, which he'd begun playing with absentmindedly.

"So much has happened, it's just the way i'm used to living...And nobody needs to worry about the things that've happened to me, I can handle it..."

"But not forever...Soon, everything might just be too much for you to bear, and it'll crush you. And...I don't want that to happen." I hadn't intended to say that aloud either, but it was something I meant. I didn't want to see Derek crushed under the weight of his own misfortunes. I don't think I could live with myself if I let that happen.

Derek inched closer to me and put his hands on either side of my face, and looked over me before leaning his face in to kiss me.

He was delicate at first, and a little awkward. Out of practice for awhile, I suppose. Once I put my hands around the back of his neck and curled closer, he got back in the groove of things, and wrapped his arms around my back, pulling me tighter to him.

I felt both mine and his heart rates creeping back up, and as Derek's lips trailed down my jaw, I felt that urge to change again. I pushed him back but kept a tight hold on his arm as I tried to calm down again. He waited silently as I focused on slowing my breathing, and he moved his hand to cover mine.

As I calmed down, our fingers intertwined and Derek pulled me to him again. He wrapped his arms around my waist and I leaned into his chest, not minding that he was still sweaty and shirtless.

"I'm sorry...I should've known that you weren't ready..."

"It's ok...Like you said, I can't expect to have control of myself right away...But if I did, I don't think I would've hesitated anyway..." He chuckled.

"Neither would I..." I placed my hands over Derek's, and he linked our fingers again.

We stayed like that for some time, well into the night. We'd eventually laid on the couch together, still hugging eachother close, hands still locked together. I didn't mind that we weren't doing anything, or that we were silent, for the most part. Nothing needed to be done or said. The moment was perfect without it.

After it'd been dark for a while, Derek fell slowly to sleep, snoring softly into my hair. I got up slowly, unlatching his arms from my waist, and stood. He looked so peaceful while he slept. Much less angry or frustrated.

I looked around and saw a blanket folded on the end of the couch, and shook it out and covered Derek with it. I kissed his forehead before slowly backing out of the room.

As I left the house, I looked up at the sky, admiring all the twinkling stars. I could never see the stars back home, there was always too much artificial light.

By the time i'd gotten home, Rachel and Kay were already asleep in bed, so I headed silently up to my bedroom and shut the door. I kicked my shoes off and climbed into bed, too tired to undress. Then, without the aide of anything, I drifted slowly to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ian, get up!" I opened my eyes slowly, blinking several times before sitting up. "Where the hell were you last night? Rachel and I stayed up until 10 at night waiting for you!" I looked at Kay, slowly processing what she was talking about.

"When I got home...you two were asleep."

"Yeah, but where were you?"

"I was...at a friend's house. They were helping me study. You know, catch up on everything i've missed so far." Kay's eyes narrowed. "Honest, I was at a friend's house."

"Okay...Just tell us when you're gonna disappear for 6 and a half hours, alright? Rachel was ready to call the cops. Now get up, you're gonna be late for school."

"But it's Friday..." Kay gave me the get-up-or-i'm-gonna-beat-you look, and I giggled. "Okay, i'm getting up."

She left the room and I yawned, stretching. I stripped and decided to skip a shower, because that'd probably make me late for sure. I put on a pair of stretchy black skinny jeans, my Nikes, and a dark blue V-neck long-sleeve shirt.

As I grabbed my bookbag and turned to leave the room, I heard a faint tapping on my window. I turned and saw nothing at first, then my eyes zeroed in on something hanging from the window lock.

I went over to the window and removed the thing. It was a necklace. On the end of a leather cord was a silver wolf, engraved with black tribal designs. I smiled, knowing immediately Derek had put it there. There were no clues or marks saying he'd left it, but I just knew.

I placed it around my neck, the wolf dangling just below the neckline of my shirt.

When I got outside, Rachel was already in the driver's seat of the car, scowling at me. As I got in, I said "I know, I know, you hate me for being out late."

"You're dang right. Where'd the necklace come from?" She was looking at the silver wolf pendant.

"I've...always had it. I just never wore it." She shrugged and pulled away from the house.

5 minutes later, she dropped me off in front of the school, just as the warning bell was ringing. I waved goodbye and hurried inside, nearly running to my first period. I got in just as the final bell rang.

I looked around and didn't see Scott, and went to sit beside Stiles.

I dropped my bag and sat down, and asked "Where's Scott today?" He shrugged.

"Probably out doing wolf stuff...Where were you yesterday? Scott tried to call you and you didn't answer. Then I tried to call you and you still didn't answer."

"I was...out. Sometimes I go for long walks, if i'm in the mood for it. I could never enjoy nature back home like the way I can here." He chuckled.

"Sometimes I think it'd be nice to get a break from all the nature stuff."

"Well, if I ever go back home to visit, i'll take you with me. Promise." I held out my hand and we shook on it.

"I'll keep you to that. Hey...Where'd that come from?" He was looking down at the necklace, and I laughed internally. Everyone was probably gonna be commenting on it.

"From a friend. As a present for coming to Beacon Hills." The smile on my face grew. "Can I ask you something Stiles?"

"Sure."

"Do you think i'm...good-looking?" He coughed loudly and several people looked over. I resisted the urge to laugh. "You okay?" He nodded, out of breath.

"A little surprised, is all! Why'd you ask me that?" I shrugged. and he grinned. "Thinking about putting yourself out there as single?" I bit my lip. The way he spoke...I could tell he was interested. But he wasn't the one I wanted.

"Yes, but...If you're thinking about us together, i'm sorry..." He looked a little downtrodden. "I'm sorry! It's just...you're already my friend, and I wouldn't want to make things weird."

"It's cool, I get it...Is there someone you're thinking about?" I shrugged again, blushing this time.

"I just want your opinion. Rachel and Kay love the way I look, but I can never get a guy's opinion...They're too afraid to talk to me."

"Why?" I pointed to my hair. "Oh."

"Plus, when I was a freshman back home, some guy tried to grab my butt and I broke his nose." Stiles looked worried. "Don't worry, I won't do that to you. You're too cool." He smiled, looking satisfied. I looked up at the clock and realized we'd wasted half the class talking.

My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I pulled it out and saw that it was Scott. I showed Stiles and he motioned for me to answer.

I raised my hand and the teacher looked at me.

"Can I go out in the hall? It's my mother..." He waved his hand and I sped out into the hall, nearly shouting into my phone. "Scott! Where are you?"

"Outside Derek's house...Since I couldn't find you yesterday, I figured he might've known...Anyway, are you okay?"

"Of course...I'm here in school. Just ran out into the hall to catch this call."

"Where were you yesterday?"

"Like I told Stiles, I was out walking. You tend to do that when it's nice out and you've been living in a city all your life." Scott sighed.

"I thought something happened...Do you think you can meet me at my house? My mom's not home, and it's closer than going all the way to Derek's house."

"Sure, i'll just say my mom went to the hospital or something." I hung up and peeked through the classroom door at Stiles, motioning him to get my bag. He explained something to the teacher and brought it out to me. "Scott says I need to meet him at his house...Think you can tell the teacher something?"

"No problem, just get goin'."

"Thanks!" I reached up and kissed him on the cheek before running out.

My phone buzzed with a text from Scott, giving me his house address. I turned in the direction of town and gripped my bag tightly, and ran as fast as I could down the road. I was in town in to time, and came upon Scott's house within minutes.

I took a few deep breaths and tried to compose myself before going up to the door and knocking. I knocked several times and after a moment or two, Scott opened the door.

"Hey, that was quick. Did you get a ride?" I shook my head. "You ran all the way here?" I nodded.

He turned and led me up the stairs to his bedroom, and I plopped down on the bed, not seeing Derek sitting in the corner right away. I glanced in his direction and my heart skipped a beat. The corners of his mouth twitched at this, and I knew he was resisting the urge to smile.

Scott sat on his computer chair and turned to face us, and Derek straightened up as he spoke.

"We figure it's time you know about everything. A lot has happened up to this point, and most of it not so good. We've made some friends and probably more enemies, and we think you need to know about it..." The way Scott was talking, it was like **he** wanted me to know these things. As if he'd just called Derek here so it would seem like it was an order or something.

I left that alone, and instead listened to what Scott said.

He told me about how Kate Argent, Allison's aunt, murders Derek's family, and how He, his sister, and their uncle were the only survivors, but then his uncle became Alpha and killed her. Then he went through the stuff I knew about, like him turning and Derek helping him, and Derek killing his uncle. He said some things I didn't know, like how that kid Jackson knew about him and Derek, and how Allison's dad had tried to kill him, and how Allison's aunt tried to kill Derek multiple times.

I was biting my nails for those parts, envisioning Derek strapped to a rack, being tortured by that...demon.

By the time Scott was done, it was an hour later and my nails were nubs.

"...And we need to keep contact daily, just in case. Got it Ian?" I shook my head, glancing Derek's way. He looked indifferent the entire time Scott spoke, even when he described the torture and being shot.

"All this...I had no idea you two went through so much...I wish I would've been here to help you..." I stood and turned, wiping tears from my eyes before facing them again. "I promise I will do anything I can to help you in the future, even if it means getting hurt, or worse..." Derek perked up at this.

"Don't worry, I don't think it'll come to that..."

"Can one of you give me a ride home?" I eyed Derek, knowing he was the only one with a car.

"Derek?" He nodded to Scott and stood. "You'll be okay?"

"Sure." I hugged him briefly and said my goodbyes, and followed Derek outside.

Once we were safely in his car with the doors shut, I smacked me head against the glovebox, cursing to myself. I blinked my eyes, trying to prevent the budding tears from spilling over.

"Ian..." I didn't look at Derek right away. "Ian, please..."

"How could you go through that...You were in a fire, your whole family died, you almost died, and then you had to kill your uncle! That's...It's not right, what you had to go through...And even Scott! He's just a kid!" Derek put a hand to my shoulder and I sat up, the tears flowing silently now. His green eyes filled with sadness as he wiped the salty tears from my cheeks.

"It comes with being one of us...Despite what we may want, we can't have a normal life like everyone else. I'm sorry you had to be introduced into all of this right now..." I shook my head.

"No. Please don't be sorry, you don't have anything to apologize for...It's just...hearing Scott describe those things and how that horrible woman tortured you, it's unbearable..." Derek put an arm around my shoulders and pulled me to him, kissing the top of my head softly.

"It's only 9:30...I guess your friend Kay would still be home?" I nodded, wiping my eyes. "Then i'll take you to my house. You can stay there for a few hours if you want." I nodded and Derek released me, starting up the car and peeling away from Scott's house.


	3. Changes

The drive and arrival at Derek's house was silent, except for the sound of me occaisionally raising my arm to wipe at my eyes. When we did get to his house, I had stopped crying and my eyes stung slightly.

I got out and went up to the creaky stairs, hesitant to enter alone. The house seemed darker and foreign to me now. So many horrible, tragic things happened here...I don't know how Derek did it. If I had to live in the space where my family died...And some of his weren't even werewolves, they were humans! I resisted the urge to gag.

Derek came up behind me and put an arm around my shoulder, and walked inside with me. As soon as he shut the door, my knees felt weak, and I grabbed his arm to avoid falling over.

"My..my knees..." Without saying a word, Derek swung me up into his arms and continued walking, right up the stairs.

He turned a corner and entered what I assumed to be his bedroom. It just had a basic bed, a dresser with some clothes peeking out, and a stack of towels on top of the dresser. For working out or the shower, I thought.

He laid me down on top of the covers and sat on the edge of the bed, looking down at me with unreadable eyes. Derek leaned in and I though he was going to kiss me, but he turned his head at the last second and laid it on my chest.

I felt a little awkward that his head was on my breast, especially because I wasn't wearing

a bra at the moment. I hadn't had the time to grab a clean one this morning.

I put a shaky left hand on the side of his head, and lightly stroked his hair. He inhaled deeply and raised his head a bit, looking me in the eyes.

"Derek..." His eyes flashed when I mentioned his name, and I smiled. "This has been...amazing. When I came here, I never expected to find out what I have, or to find you. You are...the most amazing person in my life, faults and all, and...I don't want you to change. Some people might tell you to get out there and be normal, to move on from the past, to try to be...human. I think you're perfect just the way you are."

Derek smiled a warm, loving smile, and I couldn't help but smile in return.

"Ian...When you first came here, I couldn't believe how beautiful you were. Your perfect sapphire eyes and bright white hair...If I didn't know better, i'd have sworn you were an angel. I didn't want to believe there could be something between us, because of what happened in my past, but you proved me so wrong. You took me by surprise that first night, and when you hugged me on your porch...I wanted to take you in my arms on the spot."

I stopped breathing momentarily, absolutely stunned. I didn't expect Derek to say a lot, let alone a full-blown confession of his feelings. I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him to me, burying my face in his hair, the tears starting up again.

He crawled up onto the bed and laid beside me, and I buried my head in his chest, the tears falling and soaking into his shirt. He said nothing, only hold me to him, rubbing my arm, silently comforting me.

Sometime later, Derek's phone buzzed in his pocket, and he pulled it out and I saw it was Scott. Derek looked down at me and said "Shh..." I nodded, and he answered.

"What?" I could hear Scott as if I was on the phone too.

"I'm in lunch now. Did you get Ian home safe?"

"Of course...She was a little broken up about everything, but ok. Why, thinking about breaking up wih Allison?"

"Shut up. It's just that the school would be calling her house right about now to make sure she got there okay..."

"Okay, whatever." He hung up and sighed, handing me the phone. "I'm guessing you need to call your friend."

I took the phone silently and dialed Kay's phone number. She answered frantic.

"Ian?! Where the hell are you? I was just about to call Rachel, because the school called and saidyou'd left for an emergency for your mother...Where are you? Why are you skipping?"

"I'm not skipping...I wasn't in great shape this morning, so I made up the mom thing so I could leave." It wasn't fully a lie, and the tiredness of my voice made it more believable. "I'm sorry I didn't call you first...I'm..." A sob escaped my lips, and I heard Kay sigh.

"I'm sorry Ian...I didn't know you were so sad about the move still..."

"It's okay...I'm just laying on my friend's couch for a while, please don't tell Rachel, please..."

"Okay...You'll be okay?"

"Yeah...Thank you so much..."

"Just be home by 8, or else Rachel will get suspicious. Bye." I hung up and handed Derek's phone back, wiping my eyes one last time.

"It's hard having to lie to the people you care about...Rachel and Kay are like sisters, mothers, to me, and I hate lying to them about this..."

"Maybe...After you've adjusted, after the initial danger has passed, maybe then you can tell them...It's hard for outsiders to understand and accept what we are." I nodded and scooted up to a sitting position against the headboard. I put my hand on Derek's shoulder, and he pulled it to his face, inhaling deeply. "I want to remember this scent..."

I leaned down and kissed the top of his head and he looked up at me. He scooted up next to me and brought his lips to mine, hands traveling down my back, pulling me to him.

Derek's tongue teased at my mouth, but as I shrugged out of my hoodie he paused, pulling back to look me in the face. His eyes were worried again.

"Ian...Your heart...What if you change?" I shrugged.

"If I do, we can deal with it. If not...we won't know unless we try." Derek moved in for a kiss again, but I held a finger to his lips. "There's just...one thing."

"What?" I bit my lip, inhaling deeply. I didn't quite know how to word it.

"You know i'm only 17, right?" He nodded. "And...i've never...been with anyone before..." I looked down, almost chewing on my lip now. Derek was silent for a moment.

"And you think that matters to me? Whether you've been with no men or 10 men, it doesn't change what I feel..."

"Nice to know..." We both chuckled, wrapping our arms around eachother again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Oh god..." The sweat rolled down my face and body as I gripped Derek with all my might, my breath coming out in jagged bursts. Derek was poised over me, sweat rolling down his own naked body, his breath nearly as ragged as mine. He collapsed onto me, arms wrapped around my back, hair matted against his head.

It'd been at least 9 or 10 hours since i'd first arrived at Derek's house, and we'd made love just as many times, each time more prolonged, more passionate than the last.

In between forced breaths, I said "We're...gonna need...a shower...Badly." I felt him smile, and he chuckled.

"I agree...But i'm too...tired to get up..."

"Big bad Derek...Too tired to...do something?"

"What about...you? You actually...have to be somewhere." We both laughed.

"I'm not going alone...I do need a ride home."

We both laughed, our breath regaining.

I looked around at the mess we had created. The blanket that was on Derek's bed was nowhere to be seen, the pillow was over by the closet, the bedsheet was hanging on by just a corner, and I was pretty sure there were gouges in the bed where I was laying. Also, my underwear were gone too.

I laughed to myself, and Derek turned his head, looking up at me. "What?"

"Just thinking we should get up. It will probably take a while to find your blanket and my underwear." He sat up and pulled me up too.

"Why don't you go start a shower and i'll find our clothes. Bathroom's down the hall." I kissed him lightly before hopping off the bed, not missing how he stared after me as I left the room.

The bathroom was 2 doors down from Derek's bedroom, and both bigger and nicer than I expected. I walked across the tiled floor to the bathtub/shower and turned to shower knob on high, and hot water spurted out of the showerhead.

Remembering to get a towel, I hurried back to Derek's bedroom, where he was gathering up our clothes on the bed.

"Found my underwear yet?" He grinned.

"No, but that doesn't mean I won't." I nodded, grinning as well.

I went over to his dresser and grabbed a towel and wrapped it around my torso, and Derek wrapped his arms around me.

"I thought we were supposed to be showering..?"

"Doesn't mean we can't shower together." I grabbed a towel and threw it up at his face.

"Then grab your towel and let's go." He laughed, letting me go to wrap it around his waist, then grabbing my hand. "You seem unusually comfortable to be walking around your house naked." He shrugged.

"Not many people come in here anymore, so there're no surprises." As we went out into the hall, 2 pairs of footsteps were coming up the stairs. "Except that."

Two familiar heads popped up, eyes going wide when they saw us. Stiles broke the intensely awkward silence with "Oooh shiiiiiiiiit...This ain't good..." I shook my head, looking down.

Before any of them could say anything, I gripped my towel and stomped into the bathroom, slamming and locking the door behind me.

I slid to the floor in a heap, cursing to myself for being so stupid. How could I not expect Scott would come looking for me? I was a part of the pack now, and we were supposed to look after eachother. WHY did I not predict he would come here? I could hear them out in the hall, arguing.

Derek was loud, and very angry. "What are you two DOING here!?"

Scott was angry right back. "What are you doing with Ian!? She is an innocent little girl and you've been here, convincing her to do god-knows-what..."

"Scott, you seriously need to back down. Now. What Ian or I do in our spare time has nothing to do with you, so back off."

"Nothing to do with me? What about the pack, Derek? Think about that at all while you were screwing an innocent..." I heard a loud smack and gasped, realizing Derek had hit Scott.

Stiles interjected, sounding worried and nervous. "Guys, i'm pretty sure she can hear you...Do either of you care?!" I heard no response from either of them, and a pair of footsteps approaching me, and someone kneeled down by the bathroom door. Stiles voice drifted thorugh the wood, even more worried now. "Ian...are you okay?"

"Yes... What are they doing?"

"Looks like they're about to fight...I don't know if you're gonna wanna be here if they do." I didn't move. I sat in the same spot, and focused on Derek and Scott.

They were breathing heavily, and I guessed each of them was trying not to change. Someone took a deep breath, Derek, and spoke.

"Scott...you have to calm down. Ian and I...I don't know what we are right now. She is a sad, broken young woman and i'm trying to help her...She needs someone to be there for her."

"Be there? You think ripping apart your bedroom like that is being there for her?! She needs someone who will always be there for her emotionally, not someone who will play her for a fool so he can get some time in bed."

"You think that's the only thing I want from her?! You don't get it, do you?! I lo..." The sound of their rising voices was lost in an ear-splitting, painful, angry howl.

I was bewildered, then realized I had begun to change without realizing it, and it was **me** that had howled.

I fell on my back in convulsions, my eyes filming over and my body bending against my will, changing shape and form, growing into something...different. I saw my hands turned into contorted paws with huge claws, and my legs lengthen and change shape.

As my last vestiges of awareness came back to me, I heard another loud howl and the bathroom door exploded outward, and I could see Derek, Scott, and Stiles jump back several feet, a panicked, horrified expression on each of their faces.

That was when my conciousness slipped away from me, and darkness overtook everything.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(DEREK'S PointOfView)

"You think that's the only thing I want from her?! You don't get it, do you?! I lo..." The rest of my words were drowned out by a vicious, ear-splitting howl. I slowly looked at Scott and we were both silent.

A second howl broke the silence and the bathroom door nearly exploded off its hinges, and a large gray wolf shrugged its way through the doorway. I stared at the bared teeth and furious eyes, almost unable to move.

"Ian...Dammit! Scott, get him and get the hell out of here!"

"No! How do you know you can handle her by yourself?!"

"GO!" I shouted at Scott and he dragged Stiles down the stairs, out of the house. I turned to the enormous wolf Ian had become, hands up in defense. "Ian...This isn't you! You have to change back!"

A loud growl resonated from her chest and she advanced, and I stepped back several feet. I felt the urge to change as well, feeling that she was challenging my status as Alpha.

"Ian..STOP!" The Alpha entered my voice and it came out like a growl, and she stopped advancing.

It was silent for several minutes before she emitted another painful howl, and transformed back into her human self. Ian slowly slid to the floor, shaking violently, the tears coming in streams from her eyes. I approached slowly, and kneeled down beside her before putting my hands on her shoulders.

"Ian...Come on, you don't have to cry like that...It's gonna be okay..." I hated seeing her cry. Every time even a single tear fell from her eyes, I felt the alpha side of me climb to the surface, begging to kill the one who'd caused her such pain.

She shrugged my hands away. "It's not gonna be okay...It's not!" She looked up at me with red-rimmed eyes. "I could've killed all of you, just because I couldn't handle one stupid little arguement...I don't deserve to be here with all of you good people, especially you..." My alpha side tried to come to the surface again, and the hairs on my neck stood up.

"Don't say that...You are wonderful and amazing and meant to be here...Meant to be with me..." She sniffled, her expression a mix of confusion and wonder. "Before you came here...Scott and I were far apart. We avoided eachother unless it was absolutely neccesary, and now he barely leaves me alone, because he knows we're both worried about you. Even his stupid little friend comes along to help whenever he can, because you're here..."

"All that isn't because of me...Okay, maybe the last part." She giggled and hiccuped. "You say all those things, things that anyone can see, but...what's really changed with you?" Her question caught me off guard.

I inhaled deeply, thinking of exactly what to say. I didn't want her to get upset or start crying again, because then she might transform again. Or I would.

"I...You see how I live. Alone. I don't go out, I don't date, and never want anyone close, because then there's more of a chance of both of us getting hurt..." I never thought i'd be saying these things aloud. "You're the first one i've let in here willingly like this, and you're the first real relationship i've ever had...Just because I never wanted anyone to get too close. But now..." I took both her hands in mine. "...I don't think I can let you go."

Ian smiled and embraced me in a tight hug. I put my arms around her slowly, enjoying the warmth and scent she radiated. It was like...heaven.

As she hugged me, she said "So...what are we going to tell those two? I'm pretty sure they're waiting nearby."

"I have no idea..."

"Well, we have to do something. I don't want Scott and Stiles freaking out over a misunderstanding or something...And i'm pretty sure they same some things..." I pulled back and looked her in the eyes, frowning. "I mean, they surprised me and my towel slipped, so I don't know...Please don't get angry at them!" I inhaled deeply, trying to calm myself.

"I'm not angry..." She chuckled.

"You're a horrible liar." I smiled a bit and stood, holding my hand out to Ian, and she took it and pulled herself up. "There's just one thing..."

I looked at her questioningly and she held up the silver wolf pendant hanging from the leather cord. I twiddled it around with my fingers, and let it rest back against her bare chest.

"It...was my sisters, from our mother. My mom bought it for me, but I gave it to Laura as a birthday present a while later...After our uncle killed her and I came back from New York, I found this. It was in my bedroom with a note that said 'In case anything happens Derek, I want you to save this. To remember mom and me.'"

Ian looked down at the necklace, and I could tell she was trying not to cry again.

"This was your sisters...And you gave it to me."

"Well, there was more..." She looked back up at me. "On the back it'd said...'Give it to the girl you love, just to keep with the girls, 'kay?' So...I guess I just followed what she said." I remembered perfectly coming home and finding it.

I'd just gotten back from New York, furious about Laura's death. I'd gotten into the house and tried rummaging through everything, to see if there was any clue to who had killed her. In my bedroom, there'd been a folded peice of paper on the dresser with the necklace on top.

I'd read it and wanted to destroy the house. It was as if she _knew_ she was going to die, and was okay with it. I didn't understand at all...And the 'girl I love' thing? How could she expect me to give it away as if it was nothing? I definitely didn't get what she was saying then.

I'm pretty sure I did now, though. The necklace had been bought by my mother, and i'd given it to my sister, both women I had loved for all my life. And to give it to Ian, who I loved more than anything, more than anyone before, it just seemed...meant to be. Like it was something that was supposed to happen. I guess Laura had more insight into my future than I did.

I continued to stare at Ian, at how her brow furrowed because of my silence as I thought, at how she seemed perfectly content both to be near me and to be with me. Watching the way she absentmindedly fiddled with the necklace while keeping eye contact with me was mesmerizing by itself, but looking into her eyes...It reminded me of Laura's eyes.

Ian had that same fierce determination and strength Laura'd had, and the way she easily accepted and defended me without neccesarily having to understand was just like her. I smiled down at Ian, brushing her now messy hair from her face.

She smiled back up at me for a moment before the smile disappeared, and she became quite serious.

"Derek...there is something I want to do for you. It'll probably require me taking out all of my savings...but I want to do it." What could she possibly be talking about? "I...want to give your sister a proper funeral."

I froze in Ian's arms, stunned.

"What?"

"Back when you and Scott, well, mostly Scott, told me about everything, he told me about how they found your sister's body and carted it off to the morgue...And i'm guessing it's probably still there, since they never officially solved her murder. I want to give her a proper funeral. A coffin, a gravestone, a bunch of flowers and guests, you know. It's something she deserves."

I thought about what Ian was saying. It was true, what she said about my sisters body. Laura's murder had never been officially solved, but I also hadn't had the time or resources to give her a funeral. There was too much going on with Scott and the Alpha, and i'd known that there'd be nobody to come to the funeral. Anybody else that had really cared about her was dead.

"How do you know anyone would show up? Plus there's nobody to help with the preparations, and it's a lot of money..." Ian surprised me further by shaking her head, smiling.

"You haven't looked around you lately, have you? With everything you've done and all the people you've helped, you have so many people that want to help you. Despite how they act, I know all these young kids are grateful to you for hepling them through the Alpha incedents. Scott, Stiles, Allison, and even Allison's parents. They know you saved their daughter and Scott from a horrible fate, and i'm sure they respect you greatly for it. And i'm here too, in case you haven't noticed."

I stayed silent as Ian spoke. She was kind-of...inspirational, while still maintaining her serious and somehow loving tone. It was like listening to a mother with her child.

"...All of us are here for you Derek, and we're not gonna leave, whether you want us to or not."

"Okay...I never really thought about giving Laura a real funeral, because of everything that happened, but...I think you're right. She deserves better than to spend the rest of her days in a morgue refridgerator." Ian smiled confidently. "You...are such an amazing person. Willing to do all of this for me, not because it's easy or someone wants you to, but because you think it's right...And it is."

Ian wrapped her arms around my neck, still smiling. "Thank you for listening Derek. I just hope one of these days maybe we can live a little normally, you know? Like a nice, normal couple." I raised an eyebrow, smirking. "Okay, at least semi-normal. Like Scott and Allison. At least their parents know they're dating." That suddenly reminded me of something.

I had yet to hear about Ian's parents. She only spoke of her friends Rachel and Kay, but had never said one word about either of her parents. She'd heard about mine, but...

I decided against asking her about it at the moment. It just didn't seem like the right time.

"Ian, we should go to your friends and tell them we're...dating. That way, in case you disappear until 8pm, they won't be so worried about where you are."

"I think that's...You can tell them, that's all i'm gonna say. I think i'll just sit back and watch." We both chuckled. "Now, would you mind if we got dressed? I can hear Scott and Stiles coming back to the house now." I focused my ears outside, and could hear the crunching of leaves under thier footsteps.

"Come on." I took her by the hand again and we went in my bedroom to get our clothes.


	4. Worried

**(Stiles' PointOfView)**

"I can't believe Derek's doing this! He cant just take advantage of Ian like that!" I sat and listened to Scott ranting about Ian and Derek. We 'found out' about them yesterday and he hasn't shut up since.

"You know, they are old enough to know what they're doing..." Scott turned to me, wide-eyed.

"I thought you'd defend me Stiles. Are you telling me you'd rather her be with him than somebody else?"

"No!" That was the last thing i'd ever want. Picturing Ian with that violent, hulking idiot...It made me wish I was a werewolf, just so I could rip Derek to shreds. "She's like a doll to him, he'd probably break her..." My heart squeezed, and I froze, knowing Scott had to've heard it. If Derek ever really did something like that...

"We need to do something about this..."

"I'd say you could go to the cops, 'cause she's only 17, but that probably wouldn't do anything..." Thinking of Derek being hauled away in handcuffs again made me smile.

"Stiles, come on, be serious!"

"You think i'm not?! Listen, you can throw your little PMS fit all you want, but I have to get home. Dad's gonna want me to check in." Part of the trouble of being the Sheriff's son, he had to know where I was every minute, especially after all the werewolf crap that went on. "You gonna be good?"

"Yeah...Have to go to Allison's soon anyway...Do me a favor, and see if you can call Ian. She won't

answer me." I resisted telling him it was because he threw a fit last night, screamed at Ian, and got punched by Derek. I winced, remembering how Scott's face had bruised before it healed.

"Sure, dude." I got up and walked out of Scott's house, and slammed my forehead on the steering wheel once I got in my Jeep. If only i'd done something, maybe Ian wouldn't be with Derek...Hell, I wouldn't even be in this situation if i'd done something for Lydia too... "I'm such an idiot!"

I smacked my forehead again, and a voice said "You're gonna give yourself a concussion." I jumped and saw Ian sitting in the passenger seat, eyes closed, hood pulled over her head.

"Don't do that! You trying to kill me? Actually, don't answer that." She laughed.

"Don't act so surprised. I know you were gonna call me anyway. I was out here listening almost the whole time." I cursed internally, knowing she'd heard what I said about Derek and the police. "Gonna drive or not?"

"I'm going home. Planning on joining me?" She cringed, and I smacked myself again. "Sorry...Where you wanna go?"

"Your house. I have to see your dad."

"For _what?_ Gonna file that report on Derek?" Ian sat up and looked at me, and I saw how swollen and red her eyes were.

"Don't worry about why. It involves a body in the morgue, that's all you need to know."

As I pulled away from Scott's house, I asked "Who's body?" Ian said nothing. "A family members?" Still nothing. "A friends? Is it someone I know?" She turned and looked out the side window. "Is it...Dereks sister?"

"Stiles, seriously, can you shut up?"

"Shutting up now." I looked over at Ian as I drove. She even _looked_ sad. Guess Scott and I weren't so gentle yesterday...

We got to my house and Ian jumped out, running right up to the front door and going inside. I shut the Jeep off and ran after her.

She was inside, saying hi to my dad.

"Yeah, I really needed to talk to you, , so Stiles volunteered to drive me over..." She glared at me. "...It's really important."

"Sure, sure, come sit down. Stiles, go get her a drink." My dad took her to sit in the dining room and I went out to the kitchen and stood by the doorway, trying to listen. I only caught a few words. _Funeral...Money...Laura...Shameful...Help..._

I grabbed a soda from the fridge ans went in, sitting beside Ian and handing it to her. "So, what're you two talking about?"

When Ian didn't answer, my dad said "Your friends Ian here wants to give Laura Hale a funeral, and wanted to know about the legalities of it. And how she would pay for it, of course. You involved in this?" I shook my head.

"It was Derek, actually...Did you know him and Ian are dating now?" Ian glared again, and punched me in the leg, hard. I held my breath to keep from screaming, knowing i'd have one hell of a welt later.

My dad turned to Ian, interested. "It's about time that boy gets a woman in his life. been alone in that damned house for way too long now. You know about what happened there Ian?" She nodded. "Damned tragedy...Good thing we caught the woman responsible for it." Ian perked up.

"Really..? Is she in the local prison?" My dad nodded.

"Awaiting trial, though I don't see the point of it. She'll probably be convicted of all the recent murders too." I looked my dad up and down, realizing he'd been drinking. No wonder he was so chatty.

"Hm...Maybe i'll go see her one of these days. Think you can set it up, Sheriff?"

"Well, we don't usually do that...but I suppose you'll want some closure for Derek, so sure." I groaned, smacking my forehead on the table. "Stiles?"

"If I die of a concussion, please, burn my body." My dad laughed and Ian was dead silent.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**(Scott's Point Of View)**

"Thank you Mr. Argent, really." I shook Allisons dads hand.

"I'll give you a few minutes, then back inside Allison." He shut the front door and I turned to Allison and her smiling face under the bright porch light.

She wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me, and I grinned.

"I didn't know you'd been so...pent up inside." She giggled.

"Then you need to get to know me better." I leaned in the kiss her again and my phone buzzed in my pocket, and I groaned. "Go on, it might be important."

I pulled it out and it was Stiles. "What Stiles? I'm kinda busy."

"Did you know Ian is planning on giving Derek's sister a funeral?"

"What?!" Allison looked confused when I almost shouted into my phone. "When did she decide this?"

"I have no idea! Right after I left your house she was in my Jeep, and wanted to go to my house to talk to my dad. He's in the dining room with her, talking about how they have to 'get all the legal crap out of the way' and all that."

"And you know nothing?"

"Obviously!" I groaned.

"I'll be there in a few." I hung up and turned back to Allison, who was looking down, laughing softly. "Sorry, I have to go...Stiles is having a little trouble with Ian."

"Is he trying to ask her out?"

"Something like that...She's already taken though."

"I'm not surprised. She's a pretty girl. Whoever got her is lucky." I knew if Allison knew it was Derek she was with, she probably wouldn't be so happy. "Go on, he needs you. His self-esteem is low enough."

"Raincheck?" Allison smiled and kissed me again before I jumped on my bike and rode away.

It was a few minutes before I got to Stiles' house, and found him sitting out on his front porch. I tossed my bike down and went up to him and said "Where's Ian? You said she was here."

"Inside...I had to get outta there for a few minutes." I walked past him inside the door, just in time to hear Ian call my name. I went into the kitchen to find her holding Stiles' dad under his armpits.

"Help a little, would you Scott? Get his feet." I grabbed his feet and Ian and I carried him to the front room, and laid him on the couch. Stiles came back inside just as Ian was covering him with a blanket that was on the back of the couch. "He passed out at the table. You should really watch what your dad drinks, Stiles. And Scott, it's about time you got here."

Ian sounded angry, hostile even. A bit of an overreaction, I think.

"Stiles was worried, so of course I came. but why are you here, and talking about Dereks sister?"

"Because I want to give **Laura** a funeral, like I told him. The girl has been sitting in the morgue for months now, freezing, never getting the chance to really say goodbye to the world."

"But you didn't even know her!"

"And you did?" She was definitely angry now. "All you know is that she was some poor girl, the sister of one of your friends, that got killed before you knew her. You don't what she was like, the things she did, or the people she knew."

"But neither do you..!"

**"Don't interrupt me!"** Ian shouted loud enough to make me cringe. "I know her better than either of you do. I look at the things she said and did and I actually have a picture of what she was like. Not to mention the fact that I talk to Derek about things." She grabbed at her wolk necklace and held it up. "This was a present from Derek's mom to him, and then he gave it to his sister for her birthday. When he came back from New York, Laura had left it for him, and then he gave it to me a couple days ago."

"But...why would he give it to you?" Ian's face grew red and her eyes flashed yellow.

"Because Derek is a good person, Scott. If you or anyone else in this town would take a second to look, you would notice that. At least Stiles' dad is starting to see it. The man may be the occasional drunk, but at least he knows what he's talking about." Ian turned away from me, headed for the door.

I grabbed her by the wrist and said "Wait, where are you going?"

"Home, where do you think? Thanks to you, Derek is wallowing in misery, so I invited him to come to my house for the weekend. Enjoy some good food, a nice atmosphere, and _nice_ friends." I let her go, frowning as she walked out the front door.

Stiles came up beside me and said "You see what I mean? They're obsessed with eachother..."

"It's not right! What if Derek does something to her, hurts her? What if he does something and she goes psycho and kills a bunch of people like the last Alpha?"

"I think we seriously need some help."

"Who? There's nobody to help us!"

"What about...Allison?" I looked at Stiles like he'd gone nuts. "I'm just saying! What if she convinces Ian not to be with Derek? Ian would probably listen better to Allison, since she's a girl and all..." I shook my head.

"We can't! Then we'd have to tell her that Ian is a werewolf! Then her family would find out, and they might come for her...Just because Allison's family is cool with me and Derek doesn't mean they'll be cool with Ian."

Stiles frowned, looking down at the ground...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**(Kay's PointOfView)**

I was in the kicthen and heard a knock at the door, and sat down the wooden spoon I was holding. Rachel was at work and Ian had went somewhere, so I was stuck cooking dinner alone. Parmesan chicken.

When I made it to the front door and opened it, I gasped. It was Ian and Scott's friend. Derek, I think his name was.

"Uh, um...Hi there. Did Ian invite you over?" He nodded. "Well, she's not here right now, but if you want to come inside to wait..."

"Thank you." He stepped past me, and I got a whiff of cologne and something woodsy. Must've lived by the woods. "When will she be back?"

I quickly shut the door and spun around to face him. "She...didn't say. But it must be soon. I just got a call from your friends Scott and Stiles saying she'd left, and that she was headed home." He chuckled, dark and low, and I felt my cheeks flush.

"They're not friends...More like aqquaintances. Do you mind if I wait in Ian's bedroom?"

"Well, i'm not sure..." He stared down at me intently, his bright green eyes mesmerizing. "I...Sure, it'd be alright...Ian's is the master bedroom, top of the stairs..."

"Thank you." I watched as he went up the stairs, then ran back to the kitchen and scrambled for my phone.

I quickly dialed Ian's number and waited anxiously. When she finally answered, I screamed "Ian! Why is that boy Derek here?"

"I invited him over, obviously. For the weekend."

"The weekend..? Why? Don't you think me and Rachel would've liked to know? Where's he gonna sleep? What..." A sudden realization hit me that I didn't think of before. I felt very stupid for not seeing it right away. "Are you and Derek...dating?"

"You just realized? Why else would I invite him over for the weekend?! Besides the fact that he lives all alone in a big mansion where his whole family died, and I don't think anybody should live that way, especially him." I gasped, hand over my mouth.

"What? Why didn't you tell me sooner?! Oh, he must be so sad, the poor boy..."

"Stop calling him 'boy'. He's 23 and a full 4 years older than you are."

"Ok...When will you be home?"

"A few minutes. I'm already halfway there." Ian hung up and I put my phone away, worried. She sounded really irritated and mad, and she's never hung up on me like that before.

I went back to cooking, but didn't have time for much besides taking the chicken off the stove and finishing the sauce before Ian walked in the front door. I ran out to meet her, catching her as she was going up the stairs.

"Are you okay Ian? You sounded pretty irritated on the phone."

"That's because I was. Where's Derek?"

"Waiting up in your bedroom...What's going on Ian? You've been...different since we got here. Is something happening? If it's something between you and Derek, maybe..." Ian held up and hand, which I noticed was calloused and dirty. Way different than before.

"It's nothing you need to worry about right now. I'm just sorting out a misunderstanding between me and a couple of friends is all, nothing much. Have you been talking to Rachel?"

"Yeah." Ian giggled, and I smiled a bit. Rachel had been noticing things too, but she wasn't nearly as perceptive about Ian like I was. "I just wanted to be sure. you've been a ghost since we got here. I thought maybe you were having trouble with your parents again..." Ian flinched and regretted saying anything about her parents.

"Well, I think i'll always have trouble with that. Come get us when the food's done?" I nodded and Ian continued up the stairs, out of sight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**(Rachel's PointOfView)**

"You let her do **WHAT?** Kay!"

"You can't deny that Ian's been in serious trouble, and I think this Derek boy is helping her. Came on Rach, I know you see it too..." I groaned.

"I don't know...Does she even know anything about him?!"

"She told me he's 23, lives in a mansion out in the woods by himself, 'cause he doesn't have any family. She didn't really say anything else..." 23? Did she honestly just say _23?!_

I took a deep breath and said "Where are they?"

"Up in Ian's bedroom. I said they could wait there until I got the food done."

"I'll go get them." Kay sighed as I turned and jogged up the stairs.

I creeped up to Ian's door, and put my ear up to it, but couldn't hear anything. I knocked and said "It's Rachel..." and went in.

Derek and Ian were sitting together at the top of the bed, against the headboard. They weren't talking, just sitting together, holding hands. Ian looked up at me when I walked in, looking very sad.

"I, um...Kay told me to get you. the food's done." Ian nodded, and her and Derek scooted off the edge of the bed and stood. I led them down the stairs and into the dining room, where they sat down beside eachother at the head of the table.

I went into the kitchen with Kay to get the food, and she said "Ian really looks bad, doesn't she?" I nodded.

"I just don't know what's with her...maybe we shouldn't have moved out here, maybe we should go back." Ian's head turned in our direction. "Wait...she couldn't have heard us, could she?" Kay shrugged.

"I don't know anything anymore. Come on, let's just do this. Maybe she'll be better after she gets a little food in her." I helped Kay load up a couple of plates and we took them out there, and I sat the two I was carrying in front of Ian and Derek. Kay and I sat across from them, and I watched Ian pick at her food.

Several minutes passed in awkward silence, only the sound of chewing and forks hitting plates audible.

"Ian..." She looked up at me. "I know something's been up with you lately. You're...different. Sad, depressed even. Skipping school, keeping things from us, it's...worrysome. If it has something to do with the move, maybe we can go back to Westwood..." Ian shook her head.

"I want to be here. Things have changed for me, but not in the bad way like you think. I have more friends, more freedom, i'm living with you two..." She smiled. "...And I have a great guy to share it with. It's just...there's been some things i've had to get used to."

"What?" She bit her lip. "Ian, you have to tell me and Kay what's been bothering you. Maybe we can help."

"You can't. nobody can. It's something i'll have to live with forever." When I stared at her quizzically, she sighed. "It's something from...my parents. Or one of them, at least."

"What is it? Did they leave you something? Is it something...bad?" Ian opened her mouth and I saw Derek sqeeze her hand. She patted his hand reassuringly and turned back to me.

"It's something...genetic. I only found out about it the first day we came here, so it was a surprise to me too..." My eyes widened.

"Please tell me you don't have leukemia or something. I see it all the time at the hospital..." Ian shook her head and I let out a deep breath.

"It's worse. I...I don't know how to explain it. It's something i'd have to show you."

"What?" Ian closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Several seconds of silence passed and she opened her eyes, and Kay and I both stumbled back, almost falling out of our chairs. Ian's eyes had become...red. Evil red. She scratched at the table with long, ugly fingernails, and when she opened her mouth, fangs protruded from her upper jaw.

I froze as she took a few more deep breaths and returned to normal, still holding Derek's hand. He seemed unmoved by her transformation, as if...he already knew.

"What...are you?"

"A werewolf. I didn't find out until we came here, because...Scott and Derek are werewolves too." My heart nearly jumped into my throat when she said that.

Werewolves? _Werewolves?_ That kind of stuff is only supposed ot be in fairy tales and horror stories! It's not supposed to be real!

"It's impossible...You can't be! That stuff isn't real!" My breathing was rapid, and I slumped against Kay as a certain lightheadedness washed over me. Ian and Derek rushed over to my side, Ian supporting me.

"Rachel...Rachel!" She screamed my name as my eyes rolled back and I fell unconcious.


	5. Reactions

I sat on the edge of Rachel's bed, keeping her hand held tightly in mine. She'd passed out last night after I told her my 'big secret' and we'd taken her to the hospital in Derek's car. I'd been by her side the entire night, and it was something like 9am now. Derek had stayed too, but only because I had refused to leave, even to sleep.

Rachel's eyes fluttered open and I leaned in anxiously, but backed off when she drew in a ragged breath after seeing me. She hated me, I knew it.

"Rachel...You had us all worried there. You feeling okay?" She looked at me as if I'd gone insane.

"Of course not! How would you feel if your best friend-whose practically your sister-told you she was a...a _werewolf?"_ Rachel whispered the word werewolf as if it was something dirty, a curse word.

"I don't blame you if you hate me for it...We just didn't know any other way to tell you, and it was time for you to know." She eyed Derek, who was sitting in the

reclining chair beside the hospital bed, staring at the ceiling.

"Is he...one too?" I nodded and she groaned.

"And Scott too. We're a pack." Rachel cringed. "Sorry...I've just gotten used to saying it...I'm sorry I had to put this on you Rach, but I heard you say that you were thinking about moving back to Westwood, and I really didn't want to go...Plus have some things going on that I really can't abandon. Do you understand where I'm coming from?" She nodded, and I could tell she was being truthful.

"Sorry I had to pass out on you. That was...a lot to handle." We both chuckled and I could practically feel the atmosphere lightening in the room. "Mind if I ask what kinds of things? If we're gonna start being truthful, I need to know everything." I nodded slowly.

"I already told Kay everything, she's at home dealing with it...I guess...Anyway, the stuff. There's the pack thing, and I'm helping arrange a funeral for Laura Hale, Derek's sister. She died a few months back and never got a real funeral, so I thought it'd be nice." Rachel smiled.

"Look at you, being the nice person. But...why? You didn't know her, did you?" I shook me head.

"No...But I really care about Derek, so..." I blushed as Rachel smiled again, and from the corner of my eye, I could see Derek smiling too. "I know, I know, what a shocker...But I can't help it."

"Hey, I'm not complaining. You haven't had anyone devoted to you in...ever." I rolled my eyes and she giggled. "It's about time you found someone, even if he **is** a little old for you..."

"Don't start on that, I already got into it with Kay after we brought you here...But thanks for understanding Rach, I really mean it."

"I know you do. Now go on, enjoy yourself, and stop worrying about me for a while. I'll be fine. I have all my nurse buddies taking care of me."

"Alright." I bent down to give Rachel a quick hug.

I stood and took Derek by the hand and we exited the hospital together, not really caring that most of the nurses saw us. We'd given up on the whole secretive relationship thing after last night, when nearly everyone in the hospital had seen us bring Rachel in.

Outside, I leaned against the hood of Derek's car, breathing deeply. He stood beside me, silent and patient, until I was calm enough to speak.

"I know you didn't want to be there, but I'm glad you stayed with me...Thank you Derek." He shrugged, and I chuckled.

"I only wanted to be there for you, and if that meant staying with your friend overnight, then so be it. I am glad your friends took to our secret so well...Do you think they will be able to keep it though? We might have to...deal with them, if they don't." I shook my head.

"They both know this is important to me and could hurt me if it gets out. They won't say anything." Derek nodded and took one of my hands in his. I looked up at him.

"I heard you went to the sheriff asking about Laura...What did he say?"

"We just have to get the funeral set up, then there's some paperwork to do, but otherwise...she's free. I really want to do this Derek, I think it'll be good for everyone, especially you. All of the crap in this town started when she died, and nobody really got to mourn her like they should've..."

Derek hugged me to him tightly, and I buried my face in the crease of his neck, hugging him tightly back. We stood like that for a little while, long enough to warrant stares from passersby, but I didn't care. I was buried deep in Derek's warm body, his wonderful scent all around, and his arms wrapped protectively around me.

When we finally did move, Derek drove us to his home, and I held his hand tightly as he led me inside. Going up the grand staircase, seeing the scorch marks and ruined sections of house, a thought came into my mind.

This house defined Derek. It was damaged, ruined by a terrible tragedy, the same tragedy that turned Derek into the solemn soul he was now. But underneath that stony exterior, I could see Derek's pain, his anguish. I'd felt much the same way when my parents died, and still did. I'd never found out who or what killed my parents, and still wondered everyday about whether there was something I could've done to save them.

As we reached Derek's bedroom, I pushed all those painful, hurtful things from my mind and focused in on the present: I was here, standing face-to-face with the man I loved, the man that I knew loved me just as much.

Derek looked down into my eyes, brushing the hair out of them silently, knowing I was thinking deeply. He was good like that. He always knew what to say and when to say it, and when not to say anything at all.

"Derek...I love you. So _so_ much. I hope you know that." He nodded, smiling gently.

"I do...And I love you too, more than I've ever loved anyone..." His face fell then, the smile turning into a simple frown. "I just wish my family could be here to see this, to see you...They would've loved you, probably would've made you move in with us, and my dad would've wanted to walk you down the aisle...Assuming my mom didn't beat him to it."

"I think that would've been nice, to see all of your family like that...And your mom, she sounds wonderful. Almost like...my mom..." I could feel my eyes watering up and blinked the tears away. I wasn't going to cry anymore, not for anything, and not in front of Derek. He needed someone strong for him, someone who could handle anything.

"Will you tell me? About your parents?" I shook my head.

"Not right now...tomorrow maybe. Right now, I just want to enjoy this, right here. You and me, nothing to hold us back and nothing in our way..." The slight smile returned to Derek's face, and I smiled in return.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I felt a gentle kiss on each of my eyelids and smiled, opening them to see Derek gazing lovingly down at me. His bright green eyes seemed to be almost emeralds now, the way they sparkled and shone.

"I love you Ian..."

"I love you more Derek..." He laid back down at my side and sighed deeply, pulling me close against his side.

I ran my hand featherly down his chest and abdomen, memorizing every dip and valley between his worked muscles.

Derek was different after we made love. His touch was softer, his voice was calmer, and he seemed as if all his troubles just...disappeared. I sensed this was when he let his guard down, when he was the most vulnerable, when he was completely...himself.

I smiled to myself, reaching up and kissing under the edge of his jaw, feeling the stubble from where he hadn't shaven in several days. Derek turned his head and kissed me sweetly, in a way he couldn't any other time except right after we made love. Part of the 'being completely himself' thing, I guessed.

When he pulled away, he looked longingly down into my face and said "You have no idea what you do to me Ian...It feels like you were put here on this planet just to be with me, just like this."

"That's a little cliche, you know...But I'm happy to be here nonetheless. I just couldn't be anywhere else." Derek kissed me again, more urgently this time, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me atop him.

My fingers knotted in his hair and I kissed him back, wanting to be with him again.

I ended up staying the night, for we made love until almost dinnertime. I'd then cooked him as best a dinner as I could with what he had in the house, and we returned to his bedroom after. We made love again until almost dawn.

Derek was near insatiable, and I got the feeling some of the lovemaking was him expressing himself, a way to vent his emotions in one of the few ways he could. That was only my guess, of course.

In the morning, after we finally rested to get some sleep, I'd woken up to the sound of a harsh vibrating. My phone, and it was Kay.

"Kay...what is it? Did something change with Rachel?"

"No, no, Rachel's fine...I was just calling to check on you. Rachel told me you left the hospital yesterday with Derek, but you never came home. Are you...with him right now?"

"Yes...He's asleep." She sighed deeply.

"I hope you know what you're doing Ian...Be careful, OK? On top of everything else that has been going on, we don't need you getting in the family way...Ian?" I'd froze in place. I deliberately forced my mouth to work, to speak to Kay.

"Thanks for calling Kay...I'll see you later."

"Okay...Be here for lunch in 3 hours, okay?" Without answering, I hung up and tossed my phone back on the bedside table and laid down beside Derek again.

The family way? Did she mean...pregnancy? Why would Kay even mention something like that? Derek and I were sleeping together, but it wasn't something that could happen, could it? Could werewolves even get pregnent? I'd have to ask Derek, and soon...

Great, now I had something else to worry about.

I sat up again and looked down at Derek, who was sleepingly soundly though it was nearly 10am. I could probably go home to Kay, help her pick up Rachel from the hospital, eat lunch, and be back here before Derek even woke up. And if he did wake up, he knew where I'd be.

I hurriedly showered and dressed, and wrote a quick note to him and left it on the nightstand. I hurried out of the house, but as soon as I hit outside air, my muscles gave and I nearly collapsed. I hadn't realized how weak my legs felt in the house.

I spotted Derek's car around the side of the house where he parked it and ran to it, as best as my weakened legs would allow. Lucky me, he left the keys inside, lying on the passenger side floor.

I got in and grabbed the keys, feeling the vibrations as I started the car and rove away from Derek's house.

I was home in no time, but it seemed that Kay had already picked Rachel up from the hospital herself. They were just getting out of the Audi when I pulled up beside them. They both looked surprised, Rachel more so.

"Hey guys...Thought I'd help you pick Rachel up from the hospital Kay, but I guess you're good...Feel like having a late breakfast? I haven't eaten yet." Kay nodded.

"Sure, I'll go cook something up for you...Help Rachel would you?"

I went to Rachel as Kay ran up to the house. I put my arm under her underarms and helped her to the door.

"What did they give you Rach? You're all kinds of unsteady." She laughed.

"Just some mild painkillers since I cracked my head on the floor." Now I chuckled.

"You'll be fine, stop complaining." We reached the sitting room and Rachel settle on the couch, laying dawn and lounging her feet on the armrest.

I went into the kitchen where Kay was frying up some bacon, just enough for me.

"Did you tell Rachel where I was?" Kay nodded.

"I told her you weren't supposed to come until lunchtime, but she thought you wouldn't want to wait. Guess she was right."

"Well, I'd already woken up, and it was kinda late in the day anyway...Actually, it was something else." Kay turned to look at me oddly. "Something you said kinda got into my head and it's been bothering me...'The family way' I think was how you said it." She nodded.

"Well, you have been staying with Derek a lot lately, so I thought you two were...Are you?" I nodded. "I don't know how it would work for you though. Can...werewolves...even get pregnant?" I shrugged.

"That's what I was wondering. I think I'm gonna ask Derek about it then...When the time is right. I think I'm only worrying a lot because...Well, he asked about my mom and dad, and it got me thinking about family..."

"What did you tell him?"

"Nothing. I said it was a conversation for another time and we left it at that. I don't know what to tell him though...I mean, I don't even know how they died!"

"Calm down, Rachel's gonna hear you." Kay finished cooking and dished the bacon onto a plate and handed it to me. We went to the dining table and sat beside each other. I ate slowly while Kay spoke. "If you want, I can call the Westwood Police Department and they can send everything they have on your parents death to this police station and we can pick it up...I don't remember much myself, except that they were really torn up and..." I made a face and looked away, and Kay stopped talking.

"Can you call, please? Maybe I can show the report to Derek and he can think of something new...I just can't believe nobody's found anything yet."

"And I can't believe you stole Derek's car." Kay and I turned to face Rachel, who was coming unsteadily into the room, my cell phone in her hand. "It fell out of your pocket on the couch and it started ringing. It's Derek, and he asked about his car." I took the phone from Rachel and helped her sit down, and I rushed into the sitting room where her or Kay wouldn't hear me.

"Derek? Please don't be mad at me. It's just...I was feeling kinda weak and didn't know if I could make it home, and you left your keys in the car..."

"Relax Ian, I'm not angry...Your note said you were going home, so I figured that's where you went with my car. Give a little warning next time, OK?"

"Sure. You were sleeping so soundly I just didn't want to wake you up...Guess that's what you get for being up until almost dawn, huh?" I heard him chuckle.

"I suppose. You mind if I head on over there? I have to make a stop at Scott's anyway."

"Sure, come on over. I'll be waiting for you."

"Then I'll be sure to hurry." We hung up and I went back into the dining room.

Rachel had finished off my breakfast and was wiping her mouth with a napkin.

"Derek's gonna be over in a little bit, after he stops at Scott's house for something...Are you two gonna be nice?" Rachel and Kay both nodded. "OK...I'm gonna go wait out on the porch."

I walked outside and sat on one of the wooden porch stairs facing the driveway. It was rather windy out, so I pulled my hoodie tightly around me and shoved my hands deep into my pockets. If Derek ran to Scott's house, but didn't stay long, then ran over here...He could be here in as little as 45 minutes, maybe even 30.

I smiled to myself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Derek!" I stood and watched as he walked slowly up the lng driveway, then ran to him.

When he hugged me, he said "You're freezing...Did you wait outside for me the entire time?" I nodded.

"I couldn't wait...Plus I knew that if I waited inside, Rachel and Kay probably would've asked more questions about us..." He put an arm around my shoulders and we walked into the house.

Before we went to where Rachel and Kay were waiting, I stopped Derek in the sitting room. "I wanna ask you something before we go out there..."

"Sure, what is it?" I bit my lip hesitantly. How to word it...

"Kay kinda said something to me on the phone, and when I got here, that's kinda been worrying me...And you're the only one I know that can answer it." He nodded. "Can werewolves...meaning me..." I inhaled deeply. "...get...pregnant?"

There was silence and I looked up at Derek, but he was staring fixatedly at the floor.

"Kay was worried about it and that got me worried, and I knew that you would know..." Derek swallowed loudly.

"Yes...You would be able to get pregnant..." An image flashed through my mind of a green-eyed little boy, but I pushed it away. Didn't want to get my hopes up, after all. Wait, what was I thinking?! Kids!?

I looked down at the ground now, not knowing how he would react to my question. His answer surprised the hell out of me.

"Do you...want children? To have a baby, I mean." My head shot up and I stared into Derek's eyes.

"I...don't know...Yes, it's something I've always wanted, but I'm young and you're young, and I don't know if I'd be ready to have a baby..." I bit my lip again. "But yes...I would like to think having children is in my future."

Derek held both of my hands in his and that loving, adoring look came onto his face.

"If I said I would give you children...as many as you wanted...what would you say?" My eyes widened and I froze.

It was silent for several minutes and I heard Rachel and Kay try to sneak up on us, but I didn't turn my head, or even yell in their direction. I just continue staring up at Derek, who was still waiting for an answer.

Suddenly, I just jumped up into his arms and kissed him full on the mouth, and he was so taken off guard that he fell back onto the couch. I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him tightly, almost on the verge of tears.

Derek chuckled and said "I take that as a good sign?"

"I love you so much Derek..." I heard a loud gasp from Kay's direction and smiled, pulling back to kiss Derek again. "You have no idea how happy you make me...I love you so much..."

There was another gasp and I finally turned to the two pairs of eyes peeking in the doorway.

"I know you two have been watching..." Rachel and Kay stepped out, both their faces flushed. "Did you hear it Kay? I'm gonna be a mom. A mom!"

I saw tears in Kay's eyes and went to her and she hugged me tightly.

"I'm the one that's supposed to cry, not you..."

"I know, but I'm so happy for you!" I turned to Rachel next who was rubbing her eyes furiously.

"Rachel..."

"I'm not crying, I'm not!"

"Yes you are, now come here..." I hugged her too, and she began to sob uncontrollably into my shoulder. "And I thought you were supposed to be the tough older sister..."

"Shut up..." Kay and I laughed, and I turned my head to see Derek sitting on the couch watching all of this, a slight smile on his face. Rachel muttered into my shoulder "And you'd better let me be the godmother, you hear?" I laughed.

"Sure..."


	6. Goodbye

I felt something furry and rough pushing against my face, and when I opened my eyes, a great big tounge licked me.

"Eww! Get off Charlie!" I pushed my big dog's face away and sat up. Charlie, my Great Dane puppy, and Kitty, my Pitbull/Rottweiler, were both laying across me under the covers. I threw the covers off and pushed them off, brushing myself off as I stood. Kitty stayed down but Charlie hopped up, running around the room and barking several times.

I opened my bedroom door and she ran out, heading down the stairs. I went to my closet and pulled out a long, simple black dress with matching black stockings.

Today was the day. Laura's funeral was in several hours, and Derek would be here to pick me up.

I stripped out of my pajamas and slipped the silk gown on.

It was floor length and had long bell sleeves, and a ribbon-laced bodice. I had black pumps to go with it, and when I looked in the mirror...I smiled. I actually looked...pretty.

And when I slowly descended the stairs, Rachel and Kay were both waiting for me, and their eyes widened.

Kay came to me and said "You look beautiful! Where'd that dress come from?"

"I uh, bought it in Westwood with my mom...I was gonna wear it for her Halloween party, but then..." Kay nodded slowly. "Anybody have a hat I can use?"

Rachel handed me the black fedora in her hands.

"A fedora with a dress?"

"You wanted a hat, didn't you?" I smoothed me hair down and placed the hat on my head. "You look great Ian."

"Thanks...Derek should be here soon and...Are you and Kay going in the Audi?" She nodded."I'm gonna get a drink before he gets here, OK?" They both nodded and I went into the

kitchen, heels clicking on the floor after me.

I got a glass of orange juice and leaned against the counter. I raised the glass to my lips when my eyes focused in on the glass cabinet above the sink. I sat my cup down and went to the cobinet, which was fillied with different bottles of alcohol.

I looked to see if Rachel or Kay was near, and took out a bottle of vodka and poured some in my cup.

I enjoyed the slight burn in my throat as I drank, and I could almost feel my muscles loosen. I wasn't a drinker, because I was a minor and alcohol just wasn't appealing to me, but I felt content.

As I finished off the last of it and put my cup in the sink, I became aware that I wasn't alone in the kitchen. And when I turned, I saw Derek standing in the corner of the room, arms crossed and staring at me.

"I can smell the alcohol Ian..."

"I know...I didn't mean to, I just really needed to calm down, and it was there...You look nice." He was wearing a dark suit with a green tie that set off his eyes nicely.

"Have you seen you?" He strode over and took my face in his hands, kissing me deeply. "You...are so beautiful..."

"Really?" He held my by the hands as he looked up and down my body, and smiled. "Why are you here early anyway?"

"I wanted to see you before...Is that so bad?" I shrugged and smiled.

"I wanted to see you too...And are you sure you wanna do this Derek?" He almost laughed.

"You're the one that pushed me to do this, and now you're not sure?"

"I'm sure, but...I'm worried about you. I know you didn't really get to deal with her death, and a funeral is something big..."

"I'll be fine, don't worry...What about you though? I don't want you to lose it."

"I won't...probably. Do they know you're here?' Derek shook his head. "Stealthy ninja entrance, I like it."

"Something like that..."

"Well, I told Rachel and Kay you'd be here, so go get your car and drive up like a normal person, or they'll think I snuck you in."

"And that's a bad thing?"

"Oh, just go." Derek slipped me a quick kiss before heading out the back door.

I straightened my dress and hat and went back out into the sitting room, where Rachel and Kay were just finishing getting ready. They both turned when I walked in.

"Derek'll be here in a couple minutes. Are you just gonna follow us to the cemetary?" Rachel nodded.

I heard the sound of a car engine far off, and knew Derek was approaching. I went to the front door and opened it, and watched his car come up the long driveway. As he stepped out of the car, his eyes widened as if he'd never seen me only a minute or two before. Rachel and Kay came up behind me as I stepped out of the doorway, into Derek's open arms.

"You all ready to go?" I nodded, trying to hide my smile.

I got into his car and as we pulled away, I turned around in my seat to see Rachel and Kay following us.

The drive to the cemetary was rather long since it was past the other side of town, and the car was again silent. I chuckled as we pulled up to a red light, and Derek glanced over.

"We can talk about anything, anywhere except in the car...It's always dead quiet." He shrugged.

"There's not much to talk about when you're on your way to a funeral..."

"You can tell me about Laura..." When he didn't say anything right away, I said "But only if you want to..."

"She was a great person...Always there for me for anything I was going through, especially when the fire happened...We were at school when it did, and when they called us into the office...I almost changed right there. But Laura held me back, helped me calm down...You would've loved her. Determined, independent, didn't take crap from anyone, but she was so nice at the same time...Kinda like you."

"Then I guess it's extra good that I'm here. Is this it?"

Derek nodded as we came up to the large cemetary. The whole thing was fenced off with a tall, wrought-iron fence, which was visibly rusting. When Derek parked in the lot and we got out, I could spot several far off graves where the grass hadn't yet grown fully.

"Those graves...They're the people Peter killed?" Derek nodded grimly. I noticed his expression had progressively darkened as we got closer to the funeral site, and I held onto his arm tightly. As we came upon the beautiful gold-trimmed gray casket, Derek looked down at the ground with a frown.

Several people were already here, the ones I told to come early. Scott and his mother, Stiles and his father, and Allison, who was with Scott. Her family would be coming later, with everyone else. As soon as we came up, Allison and the parents came over to express themselves to Derek, and I went to stand with Scott and Stiles.

"Hey guys...Thanks for coming early." They both waved it off.

Scott said "Even though we didn't know her, I think it's good to be here...For support, you know?" I nodded and turned to Stiles.

"And sorry about being a d¡¢k the other day at your house...I wasn't in a good mood..."

"I get it...You were all sad about us yelling at you and almost killing Derek, and...Sorry, I'll shut up now." I chuckled, but it came out almost like a sob.

I went back over to Derek, who was talking to Scott's mom. She turned to me as I walked up and held out a hand, which I shook gratefully.

"Derek just told me how all of this was your idea...I wanna thank you Ian. I knew Laura a little bit a while back, and it was just so sad when she died..."

"That's what this is for, right? So everyone can say their proper goodbyes."

"Looks like you have a few more well-wishers on the way...You gonna be okay to handle it by yourself you two?" Derek and I both nodded. "Hey...why don't you two come over to my place for a drink afterward? I'm not big on alcohol or underage drinking, but I think a glass of wine is appropriate..."

"We'd love to ."

"Please, call me Melissa." I nodded and she went back over to Scott.

About a half hour passed before people started streaming in in a near constant pace, all of them shaking Derek's and my hands, whispering well wishes and condolences. It was an open funeral, meaning anyone could come, and it seemed as if nearly everyone was. People I did and didn't know were showing up. Teachers, hospital employees, other people from town, and some people that barely knew her but felt the need to come anyway.

Once it seemed that everyone that was going to come had, the priest stepped up before the casket and opened his bible.

As the service began, I whispered to Derek "It's a long sermon...Are you sure you can stand it?" He nodded solemly.

Dying, Christ destroyed our death. Rising, Christ restored our life. Christ will come glory. Here and now dear friends, we are God's children..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Here you go Ian."

"Thank you ." She raised an eyebrow and I said "Melissa, sorry." She moved on and I sipped at my glass of wine, looking out of the window. After the long service, us main people that had arrived at the funeral early came to Scott's house for a drink as promised. Rachel and Kay went home though.

Derek came up beside me and put a hand on my shoulder and I turned to face him, His demeanor was still sad, as it had been since Laura's service started, but there was now wetness at the corners of his eyes.

"Oh Derek..." The others looked as I pulled him to the kitchen.

I pulled a tissue out of the bundle Kay had given me and dabbed at his eyes, and he closed his hand around my wrist. He pulled me to him and hugged me, burying his face in my hair, to hide his tears I guessed.

"That was a lot harder than I thought it'd be..."

"It's a funeral, it always is. Do you want to stay here? We can always go home early and rest or just drive around, or whatever you want to do..." He pulled back and looked into my face.

"You said 'home'. Not 'your house' or 'my house'." I shrugged.

"I've spent most of my extra time there, and half my nights too...I guess it's starting to feel like home. A broken, burned out shell of a home, but still a home..." An idea dawned in my mind then. I didn't know if Derek would want it or accept it, or if Rachel and Kay would accept it either, but I had to try. "Derek? If I asked you something kinda...radical, should that be OK?"

"Go for it."

"I just thought of this, so I know it's kinda sudden...You've been living in that burned out house for a while now, and I imagine it's probably not that nice...So I was thinking you could come live with me in our behemoth of a house. It's not as big obviously, but it's nice and we have lots of room and..." I bit my lip as I stopped talking, and looked up at Derek.

He looked to be deep in thought, his brow furrowed and his gaze intense. He stood like that for several minutes before finally speaking slowly to me.

"I have a lot of memories in that house...My whole childhood and the last few months, I don't know if I can go..."

"Don't you want to make new memories? Live in a house suitable for the children we want to have?" The side of his mouth pulled up in a smirk. "We can always go back to see it, maybe show the kids and grandkids where your family used to live and died..."

"You're really persuasive with the kids thing..."

"You did promise Derek...Remember?" He nodded. "And I can't help thinking about it...Kids are a big thing with me. I think being a parent would be awesome."

"Speaking about parents...Can I hear about yours? You did say you would tell me." I sighed deeply and leaned against the counter top.

"It was a few years back...Nobody knows how they died, not even the police. All we know is that their car was off to the side of the road and they were really torn up...And not normally either. There were...body parts and gashes and..." I buried my head in my hands, breathing deep, trying to to cry.

It always pained me think about my parents, even more to talk about the accident. It always got me angry, because of how nobody could figure out what happened. Back when they originally died when I was in middle school, I'd almost had to be arrested because I flipped out at school and again at the police station. That had been the starting point of my bad streak of suspensions from school and near-arrests. I'd also been forced into anger management classes.

"Ian?" I looked up. "Are you okay?" I nodded slowly.

"I guess you could say I never fully dealt with it...Couldn't really, when I didn't know how they got so messed up like that...I asked Kay to call the Westwood Police Department so they could send the police report up here so I could see it...I don't know if it's here yet, I'll have to ask Stiles dad..."

"Sounds horrible...Are you sure they don't know what happened? I know sometimes they like to keep the details away from the younger kids..."

"I'm sure. Not even Rachel and Kay know what happened, and they were in high school at the time...I just...Can we please get off of the subject? I've had enough death talk for one day..." Derek nodded and took me by the hand and we went back into the front room with everyone else.

Scott looked at me with a pitiful expression and I wanted to smack myself, forgetting that he could hear our entire conversation. I gave him a pleading look, one that I hoped would look like _Please don't tell anyone..._ He nodded as if he got what I meant.

I went straight to Sheriff Stalinski, Derek right on my heels.

"Sheriff...Can I have a word with you quick?"

"Sure, sure...What about?"

"My friend Kay was supposed to call in to the Westwood P.D. for a file, and I was wondering if you'd gotten it yet...It would be under Daniel and Luna Moore."

"We got that in this morning. That file was for you? I only got a chance to skim it, but it looked pretty gruesome...Who were they?"

"My parents...Do you think we could go to the police station to pick it up?" He shook his head and I frowned.

"Sorry, but we don't allow files out of the office on Sundays...Can you wait until tomorrow morning?" I sighed deeply and nodded. "I'll be sure to have it out and waiting for you." I turned from him to Derek.

"Guess we have to wait to see it...I don't even know if I want to see it! I mean, I want to know what happened obviously, but..."

"It's OK Ian, you don't have to explain yourself to me...How about we get out of here? Go out and drive for awhile, like you said earlier. You don't look well enough to deal with everyone..." Meaning that it looked like I might change from the emotional stress.

I nodded and we went to Melissa. Derek told her something about me not feeling well, which was believable considering the way I looked, and we went out of the house.

I took a deep breath of the outside air and could smell Scott coming before I heard him open and close the sqeaky front door.

Without turning to face him, I said "What are you doing out here Scott?"

"I wanna know where you're gonna go. Allison said her dad and some friends were going hunting tonight, and you shouldn't be out if they're anywhere near here...Especially you Derek."

"Thanks Scott, but Ian and I can take care of ourselves. Go back inside, your girlfriend is looking for you." We got in the car and Scott watched us drive away.

As we got far enough from the house, I said "That was a little mean...But he's probably right. Tonight is the new moon, a big time for hunting types." Derek raised an eyebrow and I said "I do a lot of things...One way I used to get away from everything before and after my parents' death was to practice with my compound bow out in the woods...I went hunting once or twice with my dad too."

"You did a little of everything, didn't you?" I shrugged as Derek pulled over by the side of the road and shut the car off. "Come on, we have to walk from here."

"You do realize I have pumps on, right? And why do we have to get out of the car?"

"It's a special place...Overlooks the entire valley. Please?" I groaned and got out of the car, pulling my shoes off and tossing them back in the car. As I bent over to unhook my stockings from my garter belt, I saw Derek's eyes widen. "What are you doing?"

"Do you expect me to ruin a perfectly good pair of stockings? Relax, I'm not getting naked or anything...that would be uncivilized." Derek chuckled.

I looked around before slowly pulling up the hem of my dress up to my thigh, and I didn't miss the way Derek stiffened. I unhooked the small suspenders and pulled the stocking off and threw those in the car with my shoes, enjoying having my legs bare again. I sometimes got uncomfortable wearing tight things like that, which is why I usually wore loose jeans.

"Let's go then..." Derek and I clasped hands as we entered the woods.

I had to keep a tight hold on the hem of my dress to avoid catching it on anything, and when we came upon a large fallen tree or two, Derek would lift me up and over it before hopping over it himself. I smiled to myself, thinking this was exactly like a romance novel.

After a little bit, the trees stopped as we approached a rather steep cliff. In the darkening sky, I could see the lights of the entire town and even the headlight of the cars driving into and out of the city.

"Wow...This place is awesome. How'd you find it?"

"Well, when you're a wolf and roaming around the woods, you tend to find 'awesome' places like this." He made air quotes around 'awesome' and I punched him in the shoulder, and we both laughed.

"How is it for you? Being a wolf I mean."

"It's...OK. There's all the good stuff like enhanced senses and increased strength and stamina, and then there's the hard stuff...Dealing with the transformations, keeping the secret, keeping people away sometimes...The secret things and the transformation thing don't really apply to me anymore, because I have control of my transformation and there's nobody to keep my secret from..."

"And then there's keeping people away...Not that you've had to worry about that recently, because I'm a werewolf too."

"True...You wanna get goin yet? It's getting dark pretty fast." The sky had already grown noticably darker since we'd arrived, and the horizon was ablaze with orange and pink.

"Not yet...Wait until the sun goes own. I rarely get the chance to watch the sunset..." And it was beautiful. Another perk of living in a high-elevation town.

As a breeze blew, Derek came up behind and wrapped his arms around me, chin resting on the top of my head. I could feel his warmth through his blazer and my dress and smiled. His body heat was almost an essential thing for me, offsetting my unusual body temperature perfectly. Kind of like how my presence offset his lonliness.

We stood watching the sun set until it passed slowly under the horizon and the nighttime sky darkened considerably. The twinkling stars were becoming visible now too, even more so since we were actually above the town.

"I wonder what the sky would look like from the top of a mountain...You'd be able to see _everything_ I bet. That would be an amazing experience..."

"Well, I wouldn't count on you climbing a mountain anytime soon. You have school to worry about, and then college after."

"And since when am I going to college? And I can get. G.E.D. you know."

"Oh no, you're going to finish the old-fashioned way, and go to college and get am amazing job and make lots of money..."

"Thank you for planning out my future for me Derek, really. But I think I don't wanna go to college..."

"Why not?" I spun in his arms to face him.

"Because, that would mean having to leave here for at least 2 years, probably 4, and I don't wanna do that. I love it here...My friends, all the nature, you...All those things I won't have in some big city college on the East Coast."

"I did live in New York, you know. It wouldn't be a problem for me to go back for awhile, to stay with you while you go to school..."

"And do you know how hard it is to go to school and take care of a baby? My mother used to tell me how she would go to her art school and my dad would take care of me, and then at night she would come home for me while he went to work...It continued like that for 3 months or so before she quit to spend more time with me and my dad."

"Are you trying to find reasons not to go to college just so you can stay here?" I shrugged. "Well, what about a job? You need schooling to get a good job."

"True...How did we start talking about this anyway?! Weren't you trying to cinvince me to go home just a little bit ago?" Derek chuckled.

"Yes. Now will you, now that the sun has set?"

"Sure. It's starting to get colder and I don't want to be stuck out in the dress all night."

Derek released me except for my left hand and we proceeded back through the trees. It was a shorter walk this time, because I kept racing ahead, taunting Derek, and he would chase after me. It was...fun. Another offset to the depression of this morning.

When we got back to his car, I saw that another car, an SUV, had pulled up behind it and someone was getting out. I recognized him as Allison's dad, who i'd seen at the funeral earlier. Derek grabbed my hand as he approached us.

"Hey there...Thought you two might be having some car trouble...Aren't you...Ian, from the funeral this morning?"

"Yes...and there's no car trouble, we just took a little walk in the woods is all."

"I wouldn't recommend that during the night, Ian. There're some...wild animals in these woods, and you don't wanna get hurt do you?" I noticed he looked precisely at Derek as he said this.

"Even though the most dangerous thing in these woods is probably a wild stag, I know how to protect myself, ."

"But there have been some recent wolf and mountain lion sightings, or have you not been here that long?"

"I come from not that far away, so I know wolves aren't a problem...You and some buddies killed a real big one a while back, didn't you? Burned it viciously to death in the woods, I think." Derek tightened his hold on my hand as Allison's dad smiled.

"So Derek has told you...And you still trust him? He has helped the town recently and I'm very grateful, but that doesn't mean I won't intervene if he's putting your life in danger, considering what he is."

I looked up at Derek and whispered "We have to tell him...He's going to find out anyway." Deek nodded slowly and I faced again. "I'm not in any danger from him ...because I am a werewolf too." His eyes widened and the smile dropped.

"So, you bit someone else Derek...I'm not surprised. You're kind can often go out of control..."

"He didn't bite me, I was born with it. And I know you've a hunter and all, but I don't mean any harm to this town...I didn't even know there were werewolves here until I met Scott and Derek."

"Sure...I've got to be going to pick up my daughter, but know that I'll be keeping a close watch on you, Ian. If you endanger this town in any way, I will deal with you."

"Keep as close a watch as you want, you'll find nothing." skirked before getting back into his SUV and driving away.

Derek suddenly pulled me into a rough kiss, and I pulled back with a raised eyebrow.

"You're sexy when you're angry, you know that?" I chuckled.

"No, but thanks for telling me. Come on, we should be going. Rachel and Kay are probably back at the house, wondering where we are. Not that they have to think very far." Derek chuckled again and we got in his car and left.


	7. Disappointed Or Not

" ! Er...Melissa, sorry...Anyway, are the test results back yet?" I was at the hospital getting a pregnancy test done free of charge, courtesy of .

"They should be done shortly...You have to calm down Ian, you're too hyped-up." She'd been surprised when I came in asking for a pregnancy test, but had decided to help me. "Ian, I have to ask...Why do you think you might be pregnant? A girl your age shouldn't be worrying about these types of things yet..."

"I know...But Derek and I really wanna know!"

"So it **is** Derek...If you are pregnant, we have some services you can go to..." I looked at her oddly.

"Services..? Oh no, no, no...This isn't accidental. I'm _trying_ to get pregnant." Her eyes widened.

"You're...

trying to get pregnant? But aren't you only 17 years old? Why would you be trying to get pregnant?"

"Well, neither of us really wanted to wait...And, don't tell anybody, but I'm going to move Derek out of that burned-out old house into the one I'm living in. I probably won't go to college like I was going to, because I want to stay in Beacon Hills and raise a family with Derek, assuming the results of this test are positive." I didn't know exactly why I was telling her all of this, I hadn't told anyone else any of this yet, but it felt good to rant to someone new. Someone that didn't have a bias on the subject.

"Seems like you've got your whole future planned out, kiddo...Don't be so sure of everything though. Sometimes stuff happens that'll throw your whole life into a tailspin..."

"Like your ex-husband?" She looked surprised. "Scott told me some stuff about him, like you getting divorced..."

"Well, at least I don't have to have that awkward conversation with you...What I'm saying is be sure about who your getting involved with, is all?" The door to the room we were in opened and another nurse walked in. "And that would be your test results. Thanks." The other nurse handed her a clipboard and left the room. "Okay, this is weird..."

"What, is something wrong? Am I pregnant or not?!"

"I...don't know. You don't have the hCG levels that indicate pregnancy, but you have an incredibly high Relax in level...Relax in is the hormone that relaxes all of your muscles and joints so the baby has room to grow. But it's impossible for you to have a level this high without any hCG in your blood..."

"Is that bad?"

"It's not normal...Only certain types of animals like dogs or wolves have this happen, because they don't produce hCG...have you been taking anything lately? Any kinds of pills of any kind?" I shook my head. Well, we'll probably do an ultrasound to make sure there aren't any growths on your ovaries to mess with your hormone production. If we don't find anything there, we'll probably check your thyroid next. If I were you, i'd prepare for at least a 2-day stay here. They'll probably want to observe you while they run the tests, make sure nothing's wrong..."

"I can't stay here. I have school and things to do and places to go...Can't you just run the tests and let me go? Call me when they come in or something?"

"I wouldn't recommend it...If something is wrong, leaving could be very bad. But if you insist...We can draw some blood and do the ultrasound, then call you when the blood tests come back."

"That'll work...Thank you Melissa, thank you..." She chuckled.

"No problem. I'll take the blood right now, then someone else will take you up to get the ultrasound. Sound good?"

I nodded and left the room. She came back a few minutes later with a small carrying basket filled with supplies.

The blood drawing was painless, though I felt a little woozy afterwards from how much she took. Another nurse came in, the same one that had brought the test results, to take me up to get an ultrasound.

"I saw your test results...Pretty weird, huh?"

"Took a few vials of blood to test to make sure everything's alright...Feeling kinda lightheaded now."

"That'll pass...Here we are." The elevator we were in stopped on the 4th floor and we got out.

Rounding a corner to the nurses, desk, she chatted one up before taking me into one of the rooms. Another woman was waiting there, older by at least 10 years.

"Hey. You're the hormonal one, right?"

"Wow, I didn't realize news traveled that fast in a hospital..."

"We're all about efficiency...Come, lay down on the bed."

I hoisted myself up on the bed and pulled up my shirt.

"The nurses told me we're checking for any abnormal growths on your uterus or ovaries that would cause a hormonal imbalance. have you had any pain or discomfort in your lower abdomen lately?"

"No." She squirted the gel on and put the transducer on my stomach. "This thing picks up sounds, right? If I was pregnant, would it pick up the baby's heartbeat?"

"If you were far enough along, yes. The gestational sac would become visible before the heartbeat would become audible, though. Are you with someone?"

"Yes...we've been together for a short time, but we're really serious...And we want to have kids." The woman chuckled.

"Never thought i'd hear a teenage girl say that."

"Well, i'm not most teenage girls."

The woman laughed again as she moved the transducer around on my abdomen. "It doesn't look like there's anything on your ovaries...They look fine. Now lets check your uterus." She moved the thing around some more, watching the small screen.

The fuzz of black and white meant nothing to me, but apparently to her, because she twisted a few knobs and kept moving the thing.

"Is there something wrong?"

"Do you see this?" She pointed to what looked like an empty black space on the screen, with a smaller gray ball within.

"Yeah...but what is it? All I see is a black spot and a white spot."

"That black spot is the gestational sack...And that white spot is your developing baby." My breath caught in my throat. "It's very small...you're only a few weeks along. About 5 or 6, i'd say. This is what's probably causing your hormonal imbalance. All pregnancies don't happen the same, and hCG levels can be very low...Yours is very low, but judging by this, i'd say you are definitely pregnant."

"I'm...pre...there's a..." I couldn't force the words out of my mouth.

Pregnant! Me! 6 weeks along way way too far, because Derek and I haven't been together for a month yet, but that was probably the wolf-ness making it go faster...

But I was pregnant!

"Thank you so much! Um...can I go know? I have lots of people to notify..."

"Here." She handed me a tissue and I stood, wiping myself off. "When your blood results come back, we'll give you a call. And you'll have to schedule yourself another ultrasound in the next two weeks or so, so we can check the progress of the baby." I nodded and thanked her again before nearly running from the room.

was back at her desk when I found her. "Ian, you're leaving already?"

"I have lots of people to see, Melissa...They'll all want to congratulate me on having a baby."

"You're pregnant? Well, if that's what you want, then good for you. Do you need a ride? I haven't taken my break yet, and I can drive you to tell Derek if you want..."

"It's okay Melissa, I can run...I'll have to keep in shape now, wont I?" She laughed.

"Go ahead then. And if you find Scott, you should tell him to, or else I might."

"Sure."

I exited the hospital and almost sprinted down the street. People stared as I ran by at inhuman speed, but I wasn't worried about them. I wasn't worried about anything...

I had got what I wanted. _Finally,_ I had gotten something I wanted. All my life, I had to give up things I wanted for things I had to do...Not this time.

I pushed myself faster as I passed the edge of the city and entered the woods, knowing already that I would find Derek at his home. I told him earlier in the day I was going for a checkup, and he said he'd be at home packing his things. He was officially going to move in with me.

Rachel and Kay didn't exactly agree with it, but they let him anyway. I'd thanked them greatly.

Trees passed by me in a blur as I ran, and I could already hear Derek moving about in the house. When I came upon it, he was just putting something in the trunk of his car, and spun around at my approach.

He barely had time to notice me before I had him on the ground, hugging him tightly and kissing him all over.

"Ian? What are you doing?" I silenced him with several kisses, but he pushed me back and, smiling, said again "What's going on? Why are you so...like this?"

"I was at the hospital and they were doing some tests but then the results were normal so they drew some blodd and did an ultrasound and..."

"And..?"

"I'm pregnant! We're gonna have a baby! I'm so happy, ah!" I hugged him tightly around the neck, not caring that both of us were getting dirty, rolling around in the dust and leaves. "Oh, we should go tell Scott, he'd want to know...And Stiles, and his dad, and Allison... already knows since she works at the hospital and she was there with me...And i'm gonna have a baby!" Derek laughed and stood up, picking me up in hsi arms as I kissed him again.

"You can tell whoever you want, but first...I think we should celebrate."

"And how would we do that?" He kissed me roughly and I grinned to myself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Rachel, Kay! Come on out here!"

"Do you really have to tell them like this?" I turned to face Derek with a smile.

"I know them...The more dramatic, the better. They love stuff like this."

"If you say so...Here they come." The front door opened and Kay came out, followed by a limping Rachel.

"Rachel, what happened?"

"Let's just say me and heels don't work together very well...What are you doing out here yelling?"

"Well, I know you just love getting good news in dramatic ways...Sorry I couldn't buy any balloons though." She laughed and came down off the porch with some help from Kay. "If you would've told me you were hurt, I wouldn't have made you come outside..."

Relax, it's just a twisted ankle...I need to start walking on it eventually. Now, what's this good news you're talking about?"

"I was at the hospital this morning and got some tests done and...I'm gonna have a baby!"

"Ian!" She came up and huge me tightly, the let go and hudded Derek.

He looked to me pleadingly and I shrugged, chuckling. Kay came up to me and hugged me too.

"Congrats...You gonna go all baby-crazy with this and tell the entire town?"

"Not the entire town, just the people we know...Scott and his dad, Stiles, Allison...We'll have to tell her parents too. They'll be suspicious if they hear about it from someone besides us."

"Aren't they the hunters..?" I nodded. "And they know about you know?"

"We had to tell them. Allison's dad was gonna figure it out anyway, and I had to explain about me because he thought Derek bit me..." I glanced over to where Rachel was chatting Derek up, though he didn't seem very interested. "Is we go to them first, hopefully it'll show that I'm trustworthy..." Kay nodded.

I went to Rachel and said "We have to inform a couple other people, but then I'll be back to cook a nice dinner for everyone."

"You're an expecting mother, you shouldn't be working yourself..." I suppressed a laugh.

"I change into a wolf every full moon and you're worried about me cooking? Maybe you need to sort your priorities out...Anyway, we'll be back, OK?"

Without waiting for her answer, I pulled Derek by the arm to his car. As we got in, I said "You looked real interested in that conversation."

"She talks a little too much..."

"I know, but she can't help it most of the time...Kay's the quite one."

"And you're the quietest...Are you sure you want to go to the Argents' house? We don't exactly have the best track record with them..."

"They're not gonna try anything with their daughter home, and because of the baby...Unlike Kate, Chris actually follows the hunters code **and** has a set of morals to go with it."

"And you know all of this from meeting him one time?"

"I believe the term is called 'inferencing'. Plus you've told me so much about them. And if he intended to hurt me, or us, don't you think he would've in the middle of the woods, with no witnesses?"

Derek shrugged and was silent. Truth be told, I wasn't exactly excited about this, but if Derek wanted the Argents to trust us, and more particularly me, we had to do this.

It was a short drive to their house, a nice 2-story thing with a double garage and a driveway.

The door opened and Chris Argent was standing in the doorway before Derek and I had even gotten up to it. He was standing, arms crossed and smiling, with his short-haired wife behind him.

"Derek, Ian, how...surprising it is to see you here."

"We had to come see you, ...After the way we met, I thought we needed something more proper. May we come inside?"

"Sure...why not." He stepped aside and Derek and I entered.

As the door closed and and his wife led us to the sitting room, Derek positioned himself between me and them, keeping a protective hold on my hand. I squeezed it reassuringly and he sqeezed back.

motioned for us to sit, and he and his wife sat across from us on the other couch. I leaned forward and immediately regretted it, the muscles in my sides tightening painfully. I sat back and rubbed my side, but the muscle wouldn't relax.

"Thank you for letting us in . I know you aren't exactly comfortable with Derek and I because of what we are, but I felt it was urgent we see you."

"And what is so important that you felt the need to bother me at home, while my family is here?"

"Well, we got some news that I thought you should hear, since it does involves your family's business..Werewolf news, I mean." They both perked up at this.

"What kind of news?"

"In a few months, there's going to be another werewolf in town..." Chris Argent looked worried, maybe a little frustrated.

His wife looked...surprised. She gripped his shoulder and said "Already? When should it arrive?"

"Well, it's growing fast, so maybe 5 or 6 months...We don't know if it's a boy or girl yet."

Chris looked simply confused, and his wife bent down and whispered several things in his ear, which I could hear of course.

Chris Argent stood aprubtly, and stared down at Derek and I. Derek shifted protectively in front of me, but I put a hand to his shoulder and he relaxed a bit.

"I didn't want you to worry about what I would do in this town, and figured if you were one of the first ones we told, you wouldn't be so suspicious..."

Derek pulled me by the hand and I stood, and we turned to go.

"Wait...come back." We turned to face Chris Argent. "I'm just surprised...One so young like you Ian, I didn't think you would become...pregnant...At least hot this quickly. But if this is what you want, I suppose there's nothing we can do...And we won't harm you. One of our rules is to never hunt the young ones..."

"I know...And thank you. We'll be going now." Derek and I turned away from them and headed to the door, but were cut off by Allison, who'd just come down the stairs.

"Ian...I didn't know you were here..." She cast a shy glance toward Derek and said nothing to him. "So, what's up?"

"Just had a little chat with your parents...Important stuff, you know?" She nodded slowly as Derek and I left the house.

When we were in the safety of his car, I said "She probably suspects what I am, just because I'm with you."

"Either her parents or Scott will tell her...They don't have the heart not to." I nodded lsowly and Derek sighed.

"Where do you want to go?"

"Anywhere...Anywhere except here..." A sudden thought popped into my head. "The ocean...i've never seen it..." Derek started the car and head in the direction opposite of town. Towards the highway. "What are you doing?"

"We're going to go see the ocean. It's 5 hours from here, so you'll be plenty for away from anyone and anything that can bother you." I scotted over on the seat and kissed Derek's cheek, and he smiled a bit.

I hugged him around the neck and said "Thank you...You have no idea how much this means..."

He smiled wider and said "You can thank me later, when we're standing in the cold, foamy water together." I kissed him again.


	8. Waves

Standing in the cold, wet sand, waiting for the next swell...The waves breaking and the cold, frothy water washing over my feet...Looking out to see the next wave already coming in...

It was beautiful.

Derek had stayed true to his word, and here we were, at the edge of the water. Though the way it stretched onward

til the horizon made it seem like the edge of the world.

"The closest i've ever come to the ocean was when my parents took me on a roadtrip to San Francisco. We went to Alcatraz and I could see the ocean from where we were in the bay."

"I've never been to the Pacific...I went a few times to the beach in New York." I turned to Derek, who was standing a few feet back, unwilling to get at all wet. I'd tossed my sandals in the sand and stepped right in, until the water washed over my ankles.

"You never told me that." He shrugged, jamming his hands in his pockets as a breeze blew up around us. It was dusk now, and rather cold. I wasn't trying to go inside anytime soon though. "I think the ocean is beautiful...And the way it goes on almost forever..."

"And since it goes on forever, it'll still be here in the morning, when it's a lot warmer out." I chuckled.

"True...But we just got here..."

"An hour ago?"

I twirled and said "It feels like we just got here...But okay, if you wanna go..." I stepped out of the water and picked up my sandals and went to Derek's side. "But i'm coming back tomorrow." He nodded.

"And i'll be right here."

We walked slowly back to the car and I shook the wet sand from my feet before getting in.

"Do you think they're wondering where we are?"

"If you turn your phone on, I think you'll find out."

"Nah, that can wait...We came for privacy and we're going to get it."

Derek pulled me to his side as he drove one-handed, and I kissed his cheek.

"That's some pretty dangerous driving...Sure you can handle it?"

"Relax, i've got this."

And he did. His extra wolf senses allowed him to drive both one-handed and sometimes without even looking at the road, but that might've been because there were no other cars on the road. Nobody wanted to go to a cold Northern California beach at 7 in the afternoon.

We went to the nearby town of Samoa, to the Samoa Cookhouse, both the only good restaurant and hotel in town. (I'd researched it on my phone before I turned it off.)

It was a nice little place with a dimly lit interior, and friendly hostess.

She did look surprised to see us.

"Hey there...You from outta town?" I nodded. "Well, we don't get visitors very often, so why don't I get you a good seat. Follow me."

Derek and I followed her to a booth near the back of the almost-empty restaurant and we sat.

"Can I get you anything to start?" I looked to Derek, who simply shrugged.

"How about a couple of sodas if you have them? Oh, and i'd like to know about checking into the inn..."

"Well, when you're done eating, you go up to the register, and that doubles as the check-in desk for the inn. I'll be right back with your drinks."

The hostess/waitress walked away and Derek shrugged out of his leather jacket, setting it on the seat beside him. He clasped his hands together and looked at me as I picked up a menu and scanned it quickly.

I glanced up, Derek's green eyes still on mine, and said "What?"

He shrugged and muttered "Just looking."

"Enjoying the view?"

"Of course."

The hostess/waitress came back with our drinks, and set glasses in front of Derek and I.

"You figure out what you want?"

"I'll have the grilled chicken with the french fries, no other vegetables please..."

She scribbled it down and turned to Derek. "What about you, hun?" I resisted the urge to giggle.

"Steak with roasted potatoes, please."

"Sure thing." She scribbled that down and walked away, and I eyed Derek.

"You said please...I'm impressed."

"I'm not a total barbarian..."

"I didn't say you were." We eyed eachother and I resisted laughing.

It was a few minutes before the hostess/waitress brought our food, and I thanked her greatly. I was practically starving.

I salted and peppered the food and ate, enjoying the fantastic food. Derek ate slower than I, half eating and half watching me eat.

By the time I got done, he was only half done, and I was still hungry. Without saying a word, he pushed his plate to me and resumed clasping his hands together.

"Um...thanks." Derek shrugged.

"You're still hungry, I can tell."

"Yeah...but if you give me half of all your food, i'm gonna start getting fat."

"No you won't." I started to protest, bu the held up a hand. "You're eating for two now. More than that, if you take in the fact that you're both wolves."

"Doesn't mean I can't get fat..." He chuckled.

"I'm going to go pay for this and get the room, and you sit and finish that. I guarantee you'll feel better."

I forked the steak and glared after him as he strode sexily over to the cash register. Damn Derek, he had no right to walk like that.

I laughed to myself and ate, keeping my eyes on him.

The girl at the register looked flustered when he approached, and fumbled with his money as she put it in the register. The hostess/waitress came back to the table as I finished the food, smiling.

"That your boyfriend?" I nodded. "He sure is a peice...What're you in town for?"

"Just to get away from everything for a little while. Drama, you know?" She chuckled.

"Well, we don't have a shortage of that around here. Check out the high school if you don't believe me." She took the plates and cups and went into the kitchen, and Derek came back over. He picked up his jacket and tossed me a pair of keys.

"We go around the side of the building to the dorr to the staircase. We're room #3."

"Wonderful. And I do feel better." I could've swore Derek looked a little smug as we exited the restaurant, everyone's eyes following us out.

The room was small, with just a bathroom and a bedroom, most of which was taken up by a queen size bed. Opposite the bed was a small television equipped with basic cable and a DVD player, and a few movies that looked to be left by the last tenants.

"For a small town inn, very nice. Sure you can handle being pent up in this little room though, Derek?" His head turned slightly in my direction when I spoke his name.

"I'm sure I can manage...As long as i'm not left alone, that is."

"Well, I don't think we'll have to worry about that..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**(Kay's PointOfView)**

"Where the hêll is she?!" I backed away from their loud voices. Both Rachel and Scott were standing in the sitting room, asking where Ian was. Stiles was here too, standing off by the corner, having been dragged along by Scott.

"I don't know where she is! Will you please stop yelling?" They backed off a bit. "Ian sent me a text a while ago saying she decided to go somewhere with Derek for a while, that's all...Probably to celebrate."

Scott looked at me oddly, and Stiles perked up too.

Scott asked "Celebrate what?"

"You don't know?" Both he and Stiles shook their heads, and I sighed.

"Earlier...Ian was at the hospital for a checkup, and she found out she's pregnant. Your mom already knows, Scott..." I thought his chin would've dropped off by how low it was.

"She's...pregnant? With a baby? Derek's baby?" I nodded.

"She told us right before she headed off to the Argent house. But I know they didn't do anything to her, otherwise she wouldn't have texted me."

"I don't get why she does this...She knows people are going to be wondering where she is, but she still doesn't say anything and just leaves without a word..."

"Scott." He whirled to face me. "You know about her past. You know she doesn't have a lot of people left. This is something big for Ian...you should just let her celebrate it."

"And abandon the pack? And school? And you, and her pets, and her friends?"

"It's not like she's going to be gone forever. She is allowed to have a private life." I didn't get why Scott had to intrude on Ian's business like this.

So what is she was in his wolf pack, she was still her own person. She had a life to live. She probably deserves it more than any of us here to be happy with someone. And the way Scott kept going on and on...He was getting me pissed.

"STOP!" He froze midsentence, and everyone stared at me silently. "You need to stop being such a dî¢k Scott." Their eyes widened. I'd never called anyone that before. "Ian is her own goddamned person, and you aren't going to control her life. you know what? I support what she's doing, and I don't care if you do or not."

"Kay..." I turned to Rachel.

"Shut up Rachel, okay? Nobody wants to hear your crâp right now." She looked astonished. "I'm the only one since we came to Beacon Hills that hasn't told Ian what she's been doing wrong. That's probably why i'm the only one she talked to. Except you Stiles, she thought you were pretty cool." He nodded and looked away.

My phone rung in my pocket and I looked at the screen. It was Ian.

"Exactly what I meant." I walked out the front door and slammed it loudly, jogging away form the house before answering so Scott couldn't hear me. "Ian?"

"Kay! I was about to hang up. You okay?"

"Yeah...Just had a little arguement with Scott and Rachel. They were yelling, asking where you were, so I told them off." Ian laughed.

"I wish I would've been there to see that."

"Don't worry, i'm sure you'll be hearing plenty of it when you get back. Where are you anyway?"

"Samoa, this nice little town by the beach. I told Derek I really wanted to see the ocean, so he drove me out here..." There was something muttered in the background and Ian said "Oh, shut up...Derek says hi."

"Well, I say 'hi' back. And you can tell him to have a conversation with Scott when he gets back, because he was being a dî¢k about Ian to me."

There was more muttering and Ian said "He wants to talk to you."

"Umm...okay." I could hear her hand the phone over and I said "Derek?"

"What did he say?"

"He asked where the hêll she was, complained about Ian not saying anything, and something about abandoning everyone. He was really being an âss, so I cursed him out and walked out of the house...I'm in the driveway now."

"Is Scott still there?"

"Yeah. He's inside with Rachel and Stiles. Rachel was acting the same way, but Stiles was cool, so you don't have to be mad at him...You're pissed, aren't you?"

When a voice drifted thorugh the phone, it was Ian again.

"I think he's pretty pissed now, yeah. He's already on his phone." I shook my head, looking down.

"Sorry about that."

"Don't be, Kay. Scott and Rachel don't have a right to be a-holes if I wanna get away from everyone for a while. But we'll be back tomorrow probably, so don't worry."

"I'm not worried. I'm just really angry...I think i'm gonna go to church tomorrow morning." Ian was silent. "Ian?"

"I'll probably be there with you, praying Derek doesn't kill Scott...See you tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow." I hung up, satisfied. Ian would be here tomorrow to sort all this business out, and keep me from killing Scott.

If Derek didn't do it first.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**(Ian's PointOfView)**

I came up quietly beside Kay and kneeled, facing the large altar before us.

She noticed me and whispered "I didn't think you would be here."

"Of course I would...I promised." We both stood and turned to eachother. "Where's Rachel?"

"Home. She didn't want to come with me, obviously."

"Derek isn't here either...I'm pretty sure he's out finding Scott." We sat in one of the pews of the almost empty church, only one or two other people inside. There wouldn't be many people on a Thursday. "I hope he doesn't do anything drastic."

"That's why we're here, aren't we?" I glanced up at the giant cross hanging on the wall behind the altar, beset by a bronze imitation of Jesus.

"Yeah...How bad did everyone freak out?"

"Like I said, Stiles was cool, and so was Scott's mom. Scott and Rachel freaked out a lot, and Stiles' dad was kinda worried, but he said we shouldn't worry. Oh, and the school called."

"I'm getting kicked out, aren't I?"

"If you don't show up everyday for the rest of the month, yes. Really Ian, why don't you go to school?" I shrugged. "Either go every day or quit, those are your choices. But if you quit, you're getting a GED, at least."

"You're not going to stop me from quitting?" Kay shrugged again.

"I'm your legal guardian, not your mother. And i'm sure _she_ would've wanted you to do whatever made you happy. Come on."

We both stood and made our way out of the church. Going down the big stairs out front, I asked "Did you pick up their file yet?"

Kay knew what I meant without asking. "Yeah, it's at the house...You sure you wanna drag it up though?"

I stayed silent.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"This...this is...horrible!" I was on the floor of the sitting room with Kay, staring at the spread of pictures around us.

Pictures of a mangled car. A mangled tree. My mangled parents.

I remembered seeing the pictures and the bodies that used to be my parents, and wishing I understood how they died. Why they died. What had caused them to die. Staring at the collage of bloody, lifeless pictures, I began to understand.

"Kay...you see it, don't you?" She nodded grimly, picking up one particular picture and staring at it.

It was a photograph of the roof of my parents car, with several long gashes ripping through the metal. The police report had detailed them as being caused by branches as the car entered the trees, but I could see. I could see the claw marks in the metal. They were mirrored in other pictures, along the hood of the car and the ground around the crash, all the way back to where the car had careened off the road.

"Ian, you don't think...You don't think a _werewolf_ did this?"

"What else could it have been? This says the scratches on the car were from tree branches, but it says nothing about why they were on the ground. Or...on them..." I had been shying away from the pictures of my parents bodies, but now picked up one of the more gruesome ones. "Look at this."

My mother, my dear, sweet mother, had her lower jaw almost torn off, and gashes matching the ones on the car up her neck and chest. As if something had forced it's hand inside the car and clawed at her. My father was much the same.

Covered in gashes, losing an amazing amount of blood. But at least my mother had died quickly. According to the Medical Examiner, my father hadn''t died until the car hit one of the trees, when his neck had snapped from the force of the impact.

I shuddered and sat the photo down.

"Ian, maybe we should put these away...You don't look too good."

"I'm fine. And besides, I told Derek I would show him this...and I will."

"Is he coming over?"

"He's in the driveway." Kay stood and went over to the window, where I knew she would see Derek's black Camaro slowing as it approached. "Will you get the door?"

Kay nodded and went out in the front hall. Several second later, she returned with Derek.

"I locked the dogs in the basement so we could look at these..Ian's pretty messed up." Kay didn't bother to whisper, knowing I would hear her anyway.

Derek kneeled by me, scanning over the mess of photographs, both black-and-white and in color. The black-and-white pictures almost seemed worse than the colored ones, as if every moment was frozen in dead horror.

"Ian..."

"Do you see it Derek? Do you see it?" He said nothing. "The police thought it was tree branches...Could they be any stupider? Do tree branches rip into someone's neck like that? Do they tear into their skin and cause that much damage? Does a simple car accident look anyhting like this..?"

I looked down and realized I was shaking, and tried to calm myself. Derek put a hand to my shoulder and said "You shouldn't be handling this right now...You're not ready."

I faced him, tear-eyed. "Yeah, but when will I be? Never. There's no 'right time' or 'wrong time' to do something like this. There's just going out and doing it."

"I get that...And I know you think you can handle it. But you can't be as reckless as you were before..."

I glared, my eyes flashing red with fury from my wolf side. He retracted his hand, understanding I wouldn't back down.

"I know a werewolf did this. I know it. I wanna know who did it. I wanna know _why._ Can't you get that?" Derek nodded slowly.

"I don't know of any wolf packs around Northern California besides this one, so...we should go to the Argents again. They have members all over the state, and might be able to tell us something..."

"Thank you. Really."

I gathered up the photos around me into a stack and shoved them back into the blue police folder. I kept one though.

A photograph of my mother and father, smiling and happy, before their demise. I remembered giving it to the police so they could compare it to the shredded bodies found in the woods...

I tucked it into my breast pocket for safe keeping.


	9. Relatives

"What is this?" I stayed silent as I handed the file to Chris Argent. He opened it and scanned the papers. After a minute or two, he said "These people...they were your parents?" I nodded.

"As you can see, it was quite gruesome..." I resisted the urge to sob, like I'd done several times since I received the file. "Derek and I think it may have been a werewolf, and...I wanted to know if you knew of any other packs near Westwood." He shook his head.

"There are more of us near there and i'll make a few calls...You're welcome to stay and wait, of course." I nodded as he left the room, leaving his wife alone with me.

She looked slightly uncomfortable as she sat on the other couch. "So...You didn't bring Derek Hale with you?" I shook my head.

"He has a bit of a temper, as you might've noticed...I didn't want anything bad to happen, should he get angry..." She nodded, looking thankful.

"That's good...We've had our...truce, you could call it, for a few months now. It would be a shame if we had to kill him now..." I cringed slightly.

As we waited for Chris to return, my stomach grumbled audibly, and I fidgeted. I hadn't eaten since breakfast quite a few hours ago, and my stomach was completely empty.

Whether it was my own hunger forcing me to speak or the baby's, I asked Victoria "I'm sorry, but do you have anything I could snack on? I haven't eaten in several hours..."

"Sure...I think we have something." She got up and went into the

kitchen, returning a minute or so later with a bag of pretzels. "Allison loves these, but i'm sure she won't mind."

"Thank you." I took them graciously, eating slowly. I wanted to scarf down the entire bag, but that probably would've gotten me kicked out.

Chris Argent returned several more minutes later, looking rather grim.

"I've made several calls, and it seems there is in fact another pack nearby. I mentioned your parents' names to see if there was anything there..."

"And?" His face darkened.

"It seems your father was the Alpha of that pack." I gasped slightly. "It seems another wolf killed your parents to take over the pack. We don't know exactly which one, but i've been given the names of several members of the pack...It's quite a bit larger than the one here." He handed me a small peice of paper that I scanned over.

"I know most of these people...And they're all...confirmed members?" He nodded. "Thank you, so much..."

"What do you intend to do with that list?"

"I'm...going to ask them about my parents. Try to find out who killed them." Chris looked uncomfortable now. "I don't wish to harm anyone...Except the one that killed my parents. Can't you understand that?"

"Of course we can...And it is only acceptable. Our rules say that we only kill those who kill humans...And that Alpha killed your human mother. I'll inform the other members of the family so they may help you." I stood. "And...I suggest you take Scott and Derek with you. The other wolf pack is larger, and you'd be best not to go alone." I nodded.

"And thank you again for the information...It'll help a lot." He nodded to me as I turned to leave.

As I left the house, Allison drove up in her little silver car. I waved slightly and passed, walking down the driveway. It was a rather long walk home, but...I wasn't in the mood to sit with anyone in an enclosed car. And anyone that was with me, Derek would assume was a conspirator, and immediately turn against.

He'd already given Scott quite a 'talking to' after hearing what he'd said about me.

As I walked along, I sniffed deeply and could smell _everything._ The food from the Argents' and other houses nearby, the animals scurrying along the underbrush, the sap from broken tree branches in the woods.

I smiled to myself, remembering this was the exact reason i'd come here from Westwood. To enjoy the nature.

I heard the car approaching before I saw the headlights appear behind me. Stiles' blue Jeep pulled up beside me, creeping slowly along as I walked.

"Need a ride Ian?" I shook my head. "Come on, it's dark, and it's getting cold out...And Derek told me he'd kill me if I didn't make sure you got home safe." I chuckled.

"Okay Stiles, but only because you begged." I climbed in the empty passenger side of the Jeep and Stiles took off. "Where's Scott?"

"Moping at home...I think he had a lover's quarrel with Derek again. Know anything about that?" I shrugged.

"Scott said some nasty stuff, and Derek got pissed. You know how that goes." He nodded and laughed. "You wanna hang at my house for awhile? Maybe stay for dinner again?"

"My dad's expecting me home...He's cooking." I laughed. "It's the anniversary of my mom's death." I stopped.

"I'm sorry...Need a little company then?" Stiles shook his head.

"Family thing...Sorry." He came up to my driveway then.

"It's cool...Maybe next time, you and your dad could come over?" Stiles shrugged. "Well, i'll see ya..."

"See you later...Ian..." As I climbed out of the car, I didn't miss how Stiles' face scrunched with pain. I sighed and shut the door, and watched him turn and leave before I continued up the driveway to the house.

As I reached the front porch, Derek emerged from inside, his expression a mix of anger and worry.

"Did you go to the Argents' alone?" I nodded, and he crossed his arms.

"I may be in a more delicate condition, but that doesn't mean you need to accompany me everywhere..." A nudge in my abdomen confirmed my 'delicate condition.'

Wait...nudge?!

I put my hand to the small bump that had grown since I found out about the baby, feeling the nudge again. I smiled a bit and Derek looked at me oddly.

"What're you smiling for?"

"Your son is kicking me in the stomach...Quite hard actually."

Derek stepped off the porch and came to me, covering my hand with his own. Another nudge pushed against our enjoined hands simultaneously.

"Since when did he become 'our son?'" I looked up to see Derek smiling a bit.

"Since I want a boy, that's when." We both chuckled. "So, is all forgiven?" He nodded.

"Can't stay mad at the mother of my children for long."

Now it was my turn to ask "Since when did it become 'our children?'"

"Since I decided I want more than one. Maybe we can have a daughter next..."

"I've always wanted a daughter...And we'll have to be sure Derek Jr. is the best big brother ever." Derek chuckled again.

"I think we **shouldn't** name him after me."

"Oh yes, because that's all the world needs is another Derek Hale."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We were on the highway. We were approaching the town. Approaching Westwood.

I pointed out of the Camaros window at a Chinese take-out place.

"I used to eat there all the time with Rachel and Kay..." Scott and Stiles in the backseat craned their necks as we drove by, pulling up to a red light.

When Derek and I had told Scott about coming to Westwood, Stiles had insisted on coming too. But neither of them wanted to be in a seperate car, so me, Derek, Scott, and Stiles were all cooped up in Derek's Camaro. He'd grumbled about 'messing up his leather seats' and 'those stupid children' before we'd left.

I laughed now, remembering it'd been only been about 2 hours ago. 2 hours with Stiles and Derek in the same car had been hilarious.

Derek-Don't mess up my seats.  
Stiles-Relax bro, I got this.  
Derek-Call me bro again, and i'll kill you.  
Stiles-You tried that before remember?  
Derek-And I threatened to rip your throat out with my teeth. And don't think I won't.  
Stiles-Okay, i'll shut up.

"Derek, turn left when it turns green."

"Why?"

"Do you wanna stay in a hotel or a normal house?"

He didn't respond, only turn as I said when the light changed.

The road we were on continued for about a mile before it turned from stores and apartments to full-size houses. Derek drove, and I kept watch out the window for the driveway that would signal my parents home.

"Here...Turn in here." He pulled up in front of the 2-car garage that connected to my parents' 5 bedroom house. "This was my parents' house...My cousins should be living here now."

"Are they wolves?" Derek's voice was laced with worry.

"They were on Chris Argent's list, so yes."

We all got out of the car, me having to help Scott and Stiles out of the back, and approached the home. It looked as new and pristine as when i'd moved out to live with Rachel and Kay in their apartment, before we'd gone to Beacon Hills.

I stepped up onto the doorstep and the door opened, revealing my brown-haired, hazel-eyed cousin Daniel.

"Ian!"

"Danny!" We threw our arms around eachother, hugging tightly. "I missed you cuz."

"Missed you more." We both laughed, and he turned to the three guys. "And you would be?"

"Scott." They shook hands.

"Stiles." They shook as well.

Derek stepped up, but didn't hold out his hand. "Derek Hale...I'm Ian's fiancè." I punched Derek's arm as Danny gasped.

He turned to me, wide-eyed and shocked, and said "You're engaged? Why didn't you tell everyone sooner?!"

I shrugged. "I wanted to surprise all of you."

"You sure as hell did a good job of that...Come on inside..."

As Danny turned and led us inside, I muttered to Derek "You told him we're engaged? Just like that?"

"Technically we are."

"Yeah, but I wanted to tell them..."

In the sitting room of the very familiar house sat Danny's twin brother, Tyler, and our much older 'cousin', Ryan. Ryan wasn't really our cousin, but since he was 29 and acted like a member of the family, we called him that.

Ryan and Tyler jumped up in surprise when I walked in the room.

"Hey guys...You miss me?" I got happy hugs from the both of them.

Tyler said "What in the hêll are you doing back here? Didn't you leave a couple months ago for the coast?"

"I can't visit my two favorite cousins? And my best guy friend. Come here Ryan." We hugged again, and I smiled wide.

"Missed you too Ian...Going to introduce us?" I stepped out of the way so my family could have a view of Derek, Scott, and Stiles.

"Tyler, Ryan...These ugly buggers are Scott and Stiles, some of my best friends..." They made faces as each of my cousins laughed. "...and this fine specimen is Derek Hale. We're uh...engaged."

I didn't miss how each of them tensed when I said his name, but I decided to ignore it. The time for serious confrontation would come later.

"So, what've you guys been up to while I was gone? Ryan?"

He shrugged. "Not much. Some crazy stuff has been happening lately though...Looks like you got out just in time."

"Eh, I've had quite a bit of crazy stuff myself. Started a new school, quit school, moved into a new house, moved Derek here into that new house...Really crazy."

"So, uh...How'd you two meet? And get engaged in, what, 2 months? A month?"

I was met with three pairs of curious eyes, and turned to Derek for help. He took his hand in mine and began to speak.

"We met through Scott. Got into a relationship almost right away, and I asked Ian to marry me after she became pregnant." Four of the seven faces in the room drained of color, including mine. "And I intend to help her feet through art school once the baby is born."

"Derek...I think that's enough. We've already told them so much..." I only said it because each of my cousins' faces were now filling with anger, and I watched as Danny's eyes flashed yellow. The werewolf in him was trying to come out. "Maybe Scott and Stiles can go get their things and get settled?" Stiles immediately left the room, and the house, but Scott stayed put. "Scott..."

"I don't care if you're in charge. I'm not leaving." I groaned a bit as he stepped up beside me, almost creating a pack formation. Ryan, Danny, and Tyler mirrored Derek and Scott's stance. I wrenched my hand from Derek's and held them both up, saying "Calm down please...Do we really need to do this now?" Danny and Tyler relaxed a bit, but Ryan stayed tense.

Derek stepped between me and him and said "I suggest you calm down..."

Ryan stood straight, trying to match Derek's height, but coming an inch or two short. "Why should I? My cousin's been gone for only two months and she's already fallen for a Hale. All the wolves around here know about what happened over in Beacon Hills." I tensed now, coming from behind Derek to face Ryan.

"What do you mean?"

"Our Alpha told us about the Hale fire and all the crâp that happened afterwards...Why'd you get mixed up with them Ian? Why?"

I ignored his question and asked one of my own. "Who's your Alpha? Where is he?"

"Why you wanna know?" I let my own eyes flash red with the anger of my own inner Alpha and he took a step back. "You...you're a wolf? An Alpha?"

"Yup. And I suggest you tell me who your Alpha is before Derek gets mad too. He's the other Alpha of Beacon Hills. And Scott's his beta." The three of them all stepped back now, realizing they wouldn't win if it came to a fight. Three betas against two alphas and a beta? Yeah, right. "I'm an Alpha because my dad was one...And your Alpha only got to where he is because he killed my dad."

"Seriously Ian? Do you even have any proof of this?"

"I was there and saw their bodies, okay? And I've read over the police reports. And since I _am_ my father's daughter...I should be the leader of this pack, not some murderous bastard." It only made sense. Though my dad was the Alpha and got killed, I was his offspring, so the leadership of the pack _should've_ gone to me. I'd been too young at the time, of course. "Please Ryan...Danny, Tyler...Help us."

Ryan sighed and relaxed himself. He plopped down on the couch as Danny and Tyler left the room, and I went to sit beside him.

"You're here 10 minutes and look how bad stuff is now...No wonder you stayed away for two months." I shrugged, and Ryan looked up at Derek. "And you're sure of all of this? Absolutely?"

"Yes. And we're willing to help you and anyone else willing to cooperate with us if things should turn...violent."

"Good, because they probably will...Our Alpha isn't exactly the nicest of guys. And the pack has 12 members including him, so you're gonna have a lot to go up against..."

"Would you be willing to change alliances? Switch packs?" Now I looked up at Derek. "Scott and I went against the old Alpha before I killed him, so you should be able to do the same...As long your bond isn't too strong."

"I barely knew the guy myself before he took over...Jakob Kell is his name. You remember Ian?" I nodded solemnly. Jakob was several years older than me, and not the nicest of people. "I don't know about killing your parents, but he's been the Alpha ever since their car accident."

"Thank you Ryan, really...Ad would you be willing to let us all stay here? It'd be better if the Alpha here didn't know there was another wolfpack in town."

He nodded. "It's technically your house, so you can stay here if you want. But how are you planning on approaching Jakob? You just can't attack him outright. There'd be too many of us defending him."

"I know...We'll figure something out." I turned to Scott. "You can tell Stiles to come inside now." Scott nodded and left, and I went back to Ryan. I'd noticed Derek disappeared, probably with Scott. "How do you think Jakob would react to me being back here, as a wolf?"

"No idea...He **might** be happy though." I looked at Ryan questioningly. "Some of us, mostly just me, Danny, and Tyler, aren't completely comfortable with him as Alpha. You should've been Alpha after your parents died, but you hadn't discovered your wolf side yet. If Jakob would get his hands on you...whether to kill you or have you as his mate...that would solidify his position as Alpha in Westwood."

"Maybe I should pay him a visit then..."

"The hêll you will!" I spun to see Derek standing a few feet away. He'd been in the bathroom, not outside. "I let you go with going to the Argents' house alone, even by yourself at night, but not this. You'll be killed!" by the tone of his voice, I knew he wasn't only worried about me. He was worried about the baby.

"I'll be fine, and our son will be fine. Jakob shouldn't try anything because of _who_ I am, but even if he does, i'm an Alpha too. I can defend myself against him."

"You've been an Alpha for a month and a half. He's been one for years. Please Ian...don't go." My heart squeezed a bit at Derek's pleading.

"I'm sorry, but I have to...You know that. Besides, if you or Scott would show up, he'd definitely attack you. I'm familiar to him, and to the other members of the pack. They'll be less likely to want to attack me." He mumbled and stormed from the room, and I sighed heavily. "At least. they **should** be more resistant to attacking me..."

Ryan came to me and put an arm around my shoulders. "This'll work Ian...You were always a great planner." I chuckled nervously. "And with the stuff happening in Beacon Hills, Jakob will be glad to have you back. He'll think of you as...a spy. He definitely won't let anyone attack you. There's just one thing."

"What?"

"Don't let him know you're an Alpha. Yet. If this goes bad like Derek thinks it will, it'll be better to take him by surprise." I nodded.

I walked over to the window, watching Derek outside. He was arguing with Scott about the wolf situation, and Stiles was talking with Danny and Tyler about Beacon Hills. Derek was simultaneously arguing and getting our things from his car, piling them by the porch. It had amazed me how much stuff we'd stuffed into the trunk of his Camaro.

Derek's green eyes caught mine as I was watching him, and I noticed the worry and anxiety on his face. I knew it must've been mirrored in mine.

We were about to go up against the Alpha of a much larger pack, who may or may not have killed my parents, and seemed to have a thing for me.

This was going to be a restless venture.


	10. Jakob

I chose to wear a pair of form-fitting jeans and long-sleeved V-neck I knew accentuated my figure. Standing in the mirror of my parents' old bedroom, I noticed my stomach had a somewhat noticeable roundness to it. I smiled, placing my hands over my baby-bump, feeling him press against my enclosed hands.

He had been actively kicking for only a few days now, but each time he did, I marveled at it. My son, Derek's son, _our son..._ He was in me, very much alive.

I turned from the mirror as Derek's footsteps approached the bedroom. He opened the door and entered quietly, stopping to look over me as he shut the door.

I smiled bashfully, feeling my face redden, and said "Yes, ?"

"Just looking...And wondering if you're ready to do this." I went to him, and he brushed a few stray hairs from my eyes. Derek ran his finger through my hair and said "You're hair is growing...I like it longer." I chuckled. My hair was just past my ears, but not yet to my chin.

"Then maybe I'll let it grow out a little...And I know you're worried about me Derek." He didn't say anything. "And you're worried about our son. But you've listened to Ryan explain things, that I'll be safe..."

Derek grabbed me roughly by the arms and said "Yeah, but what if you aren't? What if this Jakob doesn't believe you and tries to hurt you?"

"Derek..." He loosened his grip on my arms, and I took his hands in mine. "I'm not going to reassure you, because even I'm not 100% sure this will work. But we have to _try._ And I'll take Stlies and my phone with me, so if there's any trouble, he'll be able to call you."

Derek snickered and said "What the hêll can he do? He's useless."

"That may be true...but Jakob and his wolves will be less likely to attack if I'm alone. And Stiles is human, so they won't suspect anything."

Derek shook his head. "It won't work...I have to come along."

"You can't go anywhere near them, you know that. Jakob won't be too surprised to see me, but he'll kill you. You've already invaded his territory and stole three of his pack members."

"Technically, _you've_ stolen three of his pack members. Your cousins agreed to follow you. And

congratulations on having a pack of your own now."

I smiled and shook my head. "Don't change the subject." I heard another pair of feet scuttling up the stairs. As the door opened, I said "I'll be down in a minute Stiles." I looked over to see Stiles nod and leave the room.

I removed my hands from Derek's, and he followed me slowly down the stairs. Scott was in the sitting room with Danny and Tyler, and Stiles was already outside with Ryan. Derek went straight outside, but I detoured over to Danny and Tyler.

"Guess we didn't get to catch up much with all the drama going on...Anything I should know before squaring off with Jakob?"

Tyler answered first. "He hates it when someone challenges him, especially a male...But I don't think that stiles will be a problem." I laughed. "And he has a girl, one of the other wolves, but he isn't very faithful if you get me. He'll go for anyone that will make him stronger or more powerful in the pack. I'd say an Alpha with family ties like yours would be something he'd definitely go for."

"Ryan said something like that...Jakob still a world-class jerk?"

"To an annoying degree."

I laughed and said "This'll be perfect...Guess I should get out there."

I turned and went out the front door. Derek and Ryan were waiting for me beside the Camaro, with Stiles already jammed in the passenger seat. By the almost terrified look on his face, I guessed Derek had to force him in the car.

I went to Ryan first, accepting a gracious hug.

"Make sure you use all the family charm and trick the hêll outta that Jakob." I chuckled.

"You're not even in the family, Ryan." He shrugged and passed me off to Derek, who immediately planted a warm kiss on my lips. " ...In front of all these people?"

He ignored my jibe, leaning his mouth in close to my ear and whispering "If you're not back in an hour, I'm coming after you. Cousins or not." I nodded, hugging him tightly. I prayed desperately that this would work.

I released Derek and climbed in the drivers seat of his car, starting it and shifting into 1st gear in the same fluid movement. I watched Derek through the rear view mirror as I turned out of the driveway, and away from the house.

I said to Stiles "You gonna be okay Stiles? You don't have to come, you know."

"It's OK, I want to...Really..." I laughed.

"Even if I wasn't a wolf, I'd know you were lying. Derek threatened you again didn't he?"

"Can you call him off or something? I swear to god I'm gonna have a concussion if he hits my head against the wall again...Freaking wolves..."

"Watch it, those are my people now. I'll see if I can Derek to lighten up a little with the beating."

I turned left at the first light, pulling up in front of the bar where Jakob liked to hang out, according to Ryan. I remembered the place. It wasn't quite a dive, but not-so-nice people were known to hang out there. No wonder Jakob had chosen it as his hang out spot.

As I walked up to the door, Stiles came up and said "Are you sure about this place? Looks like a piece of crâp bar to me." Several noises came from within, and I knew the wolves inside had heard Stiles.

A little loudly, I replied "We're here to see Jakob, and if we don't get to, I'm gonna be pissed."

All the noise within stopped immediately, and I grinned satosfactorily.

"Come on Stiles, they definitely know we're here now." He followed steadily behind me as I pushed the door open and stepped inside.

It was dimly lit, and the only people inside sat at a few booths near the back. In the middle of them, looking rather smug and self-confident, was Jakob. His dark brown eyes widened in surprise as I reached him.

He stood and the ones around him, all wolves I could tell, moved out of his way.

"Ian Moore...What a surprise it is to see you here."

"I'd like to say the same, but it's not. I always expected you to land in a place like this after high school." His smug smile only faltered a bit. "I've come to ask you a few questions..."

"That'd be...alright." He waved a hand and the wolves scattered to the opposite sides of the bar. I sat across from Jakob and Stiles beside me. "And who would this be?"

"None of your business. Stiles is here simply to ensure all goes well." Jakob laughed.

"And what could this scrawny one do?"

"He'd call my Alpha werewolf fiancé to come kill you." Jakob dropped the smile. "Of course, I could always do it myself." Jakob tensed, and so did the seven or so wolves in the bar. By the count my cousins had given me, two were missing.

"So you know about us wolves now...And you are one?" I nodded.

"And that's how I know everyone in here except Stiles is too, and that you're the Westwood Alpha. And that two of your pack members are missing." Jakob frowned now.

"You're...perceptive. You've been to see your cousins, haven't you?" I nodded again. "So, you know all of this about me. What should I know about you?"

"I'm a wolf, engaged to an Alpha wolf from another pack, and here about my parents. You remember them, don't you?"

"How couldn't I? People still talk about that grizzly car accident...Pretty torn up, weren't they?" I didn't buy into Jakob's taunting and kept a straight face.

"That's what I'm here about. You see, I've recently had another look at the police report of their accident, and something wasn't right..." I motioned to Stiles and he pulled the file out, setting it on the table before Jakob. As Jakob flipped through it, I said "It occurred to me that their 'accident' might not've been such an accident."

"And you're coming to me why..?" He tossed the file back across the table, not looking at all surprised.

"As you had to've known, my father was the Alpha back then...And there's only one way you could've turned into the Alpha." Jakob chuckled evilly. "I haven't come to make trouble...yet."

"You aren't going to be making trouble _ever."_ Jakob leaned over the table, an intensely hateful stare in his eyes, aimed right at me. His eyes flashed red. "This is my town now. Whatever you think you're gonna do, rethink it. You either join my pack here, or my wolves will come after you. Get that Moore?" I groaned, hating how he called me by my last name. It came out as a bit of a growl though.

I stood and squared up, looking right into Jakob's eyes as I spoke. "You have no idea what I can do, or who I have with me." I felt Stiles tug on my arm and ignored him.

"Nobody can help you beat me. Nobody." I grinned now, regretting only a bit that'd I'd have to play the Derek card so early.

"Now even Derek Hale?" The bar fell silent once more, and Jakob, for only a second, looked scared. He quickly regained himself, the smug look returning from earlier. "And he's not the only one."

"A Hale...I didn't think you were that desperate."

"Who else would I be engaged to? You? Not a chance." I pulled Stiles up out of his chair and steered him toward the door. "I suggest you watch yourself the next few days Jakob...All your minion wolves won't protect you like you think they will." He was silent as Stiles and I exited the bar.

Stiles threw his hands in the air and said "What the hêll was that?! You weren't supposed to tell them about Derek!"

"I had to say something didn't I! And I couldn't say...the other thing." I pointed to myself, knowing the wolves inside were all still listening. There had been no movement since I exited. "Come on, we should be getting back. They'll be worried about us."

I was careful not to mention names. I'd already said too much when I mentioned my cousins and Derek.

Stiles and I climbed back in the Camaro and left, heading back to my parents house.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What did you tell Jakob? He just called me, pissed as all hêll." I faced Ryan as we stood in the backyard of the house. Everyone else was inside.

"He got mad when I mentioned my parents and threatened me, and I had to use Derek to get him to back off. It seemed to work just fine."

"But you told him you had other wolves. Did you tell him you're an Alpha too?" I shook my head.

"I'm not that stupid. I just made it clear to him that he'd better watch himself the next week or so."

"Well, he just told me to warn Tyler and Danny that if any of us see you or Derek, we're supposed to call him right away. You're enemy number one in this town now, Ian."

"Only to Jakob and his followers...But we'll be staying cooped up inside this house while we're here anyway. Derek and Scott can't go outside at all. Stiles and me are OK, he's seen the both of us. And Jakob will be more cautious about trying to find me if he thinks Derek is with me. You should've seen it Ryan...Jakob looked scared shîtless when I mentioned Derek was my fiancé." Ryan laughed.

"Anybody should. Danny told me how he almost crâpped his pants when Derek came up on the doorstep when you first got here. That family is practically a legend now, because of what happened in Beacon Hills. It might actually be good to have that guy around..."

Derek's low voice inside the house muttered "You're dâmned right" and Ryan and I laughed.

"I think I'm gonna go inside now...Time to feed Derek Jr."

As I turned to head in the back door, Ryan said "And congrats on the baby. He gonna be a big strong Alpha like both of his parents?" I laughed.

"Definitely." I pulled the screen door open and stepped inside, hearing it clang shut behind me. I went immediately to the refrigerator and opened it, pulling out a small plastic package of strawberries.

As I stood and popped a whole one into my mouth, I heard Scott say behind me "Too much junk food will make you fat."

I scowled and replied with "Strawberries aren't junk food, they're healthy food. And I can't help being always hungry." He laughed.

"My mom said pregnant people eat a lot. She showed me some pictures when she was pregnant with me before..." Scott cringed and I laughed, careful not to spit out the strawberry I was eating.

I swallowed it and said "I doubt I'd get fat. I'm a werewolf with a high metabolism, and so is the baby. I think I've actually lost a few pounds since moving to Beacon Hills..." I didn't mention the fact that half of that was probably the lovemaking with Derek nearly every day. I smiled to myself and popped another strawberry.

Scott opened his mouth to say something, but the incessant vibrating of his phone cut him off. When he cringed at the caller-ID, I guessed it was his mother. We hadn't told her we'd be leaving for several days, and she'd undoubtedly be pissed.

"Mom..?" Scott could barely get that out before his mom started shouting through the phone. I could hear all of it, though probably wouldn't repeat most of it in conversation.

"Go outside...She sounds pissed."

"She'll probably disown me when I get home." Scott hurried out the back door and his mom's voice faded, and I laughed again.

Thinking of parents...

I set the strawberries down and jogged up the stairs to find Danny. He was in his bedroom, my old room, listening to his stereo while scribbling in a notebook. He looked up when I opened the door.

"Hey."

"Danny, do you know where all of my parents' stuff is? I wanna look through it."

"You never told anyone where you wanted it, so Kay told them to box it up and put it in the attic."

"Good old Kay...Thanks." I pulled his door shut as I ran to the stairwell at the end of the hall.

The attic was done up as a third-floor bedroom, though nobody used it. There were enough bedrooms downstairs, and a bunch of cardboard boxes were spread about the floor.

All of my parents' things.

I went to one labeled 'clothes' and opened it to find some of my dad's things. His business suits and button-down shirts, and in another box underneath it, his casual clothes. I laughed as I looked around and found twice as many boxes full of my mother's clothes.

Pants. Shirts. Skirts. Dresses. Even her gloves and scarves from wintertime. I pulled out one that I remembered from my youth as my favorite. It was a body-length blue scarf, made of the softest cashmere wth fringed ends. She'd had it since her own childhood. My grandmother handmade it for her, I remember her telling me.

I draped the long scarf around my neck several times, letting the long ends trail to my waist. I plucked a matching knitted cap my grandmother had also made from the box and put that on as well. The fuzzy fabric clung to my hair as I sped down the attic stairs.

Danny was coming out of his bedroom and stopped when he saw me.

"Where'd you get those?"

"They were my mom's. My grandma made them for her when she was a kid."

"Looks nice...Matches your eyes."

"Really?" I went to the nearby bathroom and looked in the mirror. The soft blue fabric _did_ match my eyes, almost exactly. My eyes were a shade darker though. "Even better...I rubbed the end of the scarf against my face, remembering when she'd given it to me.

As a Christmas present. I'd been so happy.

"Ian." I turned to see Derek approaching me instead of Danny. I peered around Derek to see that Danny was gone.

"Where'd Danny go?"

"I sent him downstairs when I came up and saw you crying."

"What? I'm not..." I wiped at my eyes, and there were indeed tears there. "...crying..." I wiped furiously at my eyes until the tears disappeared.

"You don't have to pretend you weren't..."

"It's not that..." I sighed. "I was just thinking about when my mom gave me this scarf and hat for Christmas when I was a kid. My grandma made them for my mom when she was a kid, so she gave them to me. I was maybe...five at the time."

"Do you have other stuff of your mom's?" I nodded.

"Her and my dad's stuff are all in boxes in the attic. Apparently, Kay suggested they be put there..."

"Guess you'll have to thank her..." I wrapped my arms around Derek and he did the same to me, and we swayed slightly in our place, in the middle of the bathroom floor.

"Besides slow-dancing in the bathroom...why'd you come up here?" Derek chuckled.

"To get you. You left your food on the kitchen counter and I thought you'd gotten sick or something."

"I haven't had mourning sickness at all...Thankfully." Though I'd probably just jinxed myself, I thought. "I was thinking...Do you want to go back to Beacon Hills?" Derek pulled back to look me in the face. "I mean, I have my own pack here now, and you have Scott back in Beacon Hills, and they're so far apart...I don't think I could stay away from you." And I knew wolves could leave a pack, but could an Alpha leave it's pack? I'd sure as hêll never heard of it.

"I wouldn't want you too..." Derek sighed loudly and pulled me back to him. "I don't know what we should do...You can't just 'undo' being an Alpha. Just...do whatever you want to do."

What I want to do. I groaned to myself.

I wanted to go back to Beacon Hills, to rule the pack there with Derek and continue our life together like I'd originally planned. My wolf side, my Alpha side, wanted to stay here in Westwood, to rule this large pack by myself, in the place where I had come from. And, just a little, I wanted to stay for my parents. They'd lived here, my grandparents had lived here, and it was all I'd ever known before Beacon Hills.

Derek, or my pack? My new family, or my old family? Beacon Hills, or Westwood?

Even now, cuddled to Derek's chest, his arms wrapped protectively around me, I knew I didn't have the answer.


	11. Decisions

"Ian, open the damned door."

I went to the front door of my parents house and opened it to see Jakob standing on the doorstep. Tyler, Danny, and Ryan had warned me that he would show today, so we'd hidden Derek and Scott in the basement of the house. They weren't happy about it, to say the least.

"Hello Jakob. My cousins warned me that you would be coming to see me."

He grumbled something indecipherable. I stepped out onto the porch and shut the door behind me.

"After you told me about being engaged to Hale, I've...reconsidered killing you."

"Is that so?"

"I'm here, aren't I?" I shrugged. "You know your cousins are a part of my pack, so I thought it'd only be right if you were too." I narrowed my eyes.

"You're extending an invitation to join your pack after I threatened to send my fiancé to kill you? That's big for a peace offering."

"Are you interested or not? I don't have all day."

"I'll...think about it. Try not to be too impatient, OK? I'll be seein you."

Jakob motioned with his hand and I turned, going back in the house.

I waited until he was out of hearing range to move from the front doorway, and go to the basement. When I opened the door, Scott almost tumbled out.

"About time. He's trying to kill me, I swear..." I laughed as Derek and the rest of my family filed out of the basement. They'd hidden there as well, to make Jakob think they weren't home.

"Looks like using the Hale name worked in my favor after all. Jakob's scared enough to ask me to join his pack." Ryan clapped his hand against my back.

"Knew you could pull it off. Think you can pull off making dinner for six wolves and a human?" I raised an eyebrow. "I'm starved."

"It's seven wolves, remember? And yes, I can cook." He shot a hand in the air. "Might take awhile though, because I know you all are fatâsses."

"I'll will patiently be waiting for it...within the hour." I groaned as Ryan laughed and walked away.

I went to the

kitchen and into the freezer, and pulled out a package of frozen ground beef. I turned the hot water on in the sink, and left the package of meat to defrost.

I'd make a Beef Nacho Casserole. Being a house full of men, they'd undoubtedly have the salsa, cheese, and tortilla chips I'd need, and love anything using them in it.

As I was digging out a pan and casserole dish, I looked out the window to see delicate white flakes drifting down in the backyard. I set the pans down and went out onto the back porch to watch the snowflakes swirling around in the air.

"Did you know it was supposed to snow today?" I felt Derek's arms wrap around me from behind.

"It's almost winter, it'll tend to snow." I whirled in his arms to face him.

"Almost winter? What's today?"

"December 4th." I though back.

I hadn't noticed the days passing at all.

"I missed Thanksgiving, that's fantastic...And there's only 3 weeks until Christmas!" I hadn't prepared for the holidays at all!

I groaned and Derek said "You don't have to worry about Christmas. It's just a holiday."

"A holiday where we're supposed to celebrate and give eachother gifts and eat cookies and ham dinners until we gain 10 pounds. We don't even have a Christmas tree at the house yet! Or lights! Or anything!"

"Your friends probably didn't want to worry you with it, since you've got a bunch going on already."

"I don't care what's going on! You and I are supposed to be a family now, and families celebrate Christmas." Derek chuckled. "I'm not kidding."

"Alright. We'll get all your Christmas things once we're done dealing with Jakob, alright?"

"You'd better not be lying. Now go away, you're distracting me from my cooking." He chuckled and kissed me lightly before leaving the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Tyler, Danny..." They looked up from the couch. "Would you mind coming with me to see Jakob?"

Tyler spoke first. "Why do you need to go see him?"

"Do you not remember what we said earlier? I told him I'd be coming to see him, since he's apparently decided to try to trust me. Or spy on me, which works out even better."

"Why..?"

"If Jakob wants to spy on me, he'll keep me close, try to find out why I'm here."

"What if it's a lie, and he just tries to ambush you?"

"That's why I want to bring you two."

"I'm coming too." I turned to face Ryan. "No baby cousin of mine is gonna go face off with an Alpha werewolf and his pack all by herself. Of course I'm coming. And..." He got in close and whispered. "...I'm pretty sure your fiancé and Scott are gonna wanna go too."

"We can't have everyone go...It's gonna look suspicious enough as is."

"We can follow behind in a seperate car." I resisted a laugh as Derek's voice and footsteps echoed into the room. "You're not gonna go there again without me." I turned.

"You are really stubborn sometimes, you know that?" He didn't move. "You can only come inside if something goes wrong. Jakob will go berserk if you just show up in the middle of his wolf den."

"Let him go berserk. I can protect myself, and you too. I'm going." I sighed.

"I suppose we should all get going then. Me, Ryan, Danny, and Tyler will ride in the Camaro, since that's what I drove before. You, Scott, and Stiles can ride in Ryan's car."

"Since when did I agree to let you use my car?" I faced Ryan, who had just entered from the kitchen.

"Since I'm letting you continue living in _my_ house." Ryan's mouth twitched. "Can we leave now?"

Everyone begun to file outside. I waited until the last of them, Stiles, was outside to shut and lock the door with the set of keys Ryan'd given me. We split into our respective cars, Scott and Stiles getting into Ryan's grey 2009 Honda Accord.

Derek came to me before getting in the drivers seat.

"The second I hear so much as a shout, I'm coming in."

I nodded. "Just don't bust the door down too early. I might end up being the one to have to save you." He barked out a laugh. "Go on, they're watching through the car windows."

"Hey." Just as I turned to walk to Derek's car, he pulled me by the wrist to him. After planting a kiss on me, he muttered against my lips "If we make it out of this, I'm marrying you."

I laughed and kissed him back. "I know."

We seperated and got into the different cars then.

Ryan said from the passenger seat "Could you be any **more** ardent?"

I narrowed my eyes. "Don't make me slaughter you." He only laughed.

"I think this Hale is rubbing off on you."

"Yeah, yeah..."

I pulled out of the driveway, heading in the direction of the bar I'd went to before. I glanced in the rearview mirror every time we stopped, checking that Derek was still following. And every time I looked, I would see his green eyes looking right into mine, and smile.

After the few minutes it took to get into town, Derek pulled off on the side of the street, a block or two away from the bar, but still close enough to hear any loud sounds. I continued ahead, to where Jakob was just coming out of the bar, smirking.

I pulled over and shut the car off, and we all climbed out. Ryan stood to my right, and Danny and Tyler on either side of us.

"Jakob. We're here to talk about our...situation. I've told my cousins about how you came over earlier."

"Good. Saves me the time of doing it again. I assume you three have shown her the...benefits of being in our pack?" Ryan, Tyler, and Danny all nodded. "Come on inside, we'll get you all set up."

"However appealing that may sound...I can't." He raised an eyebrow. "I intended to come here today to discuss that with you, but my cousins here have warned me that you were going to try to spy on me and my fiancé." I had no idea where all of this was coming from, or why I was saying it, but I kept with it. "I don't appreciate that very much."

Jakob's smirk lowered into a bit of a frown. "I had hoped we'd be able to...reconcile our differences. I was even considering making you my second in command, considering the connections you have with Beacon Hills. Lot of potential there."

I chuckled. "You can quit it with the proper talk. Just have your temper tantrum and be over with it."

Jakob stepped away from the doorway of the bar, coming within feet of my cousins and I.

"If you're not going to join my pack, then I guess I'll just have to get rid of you." The atmosphere around us filled with tension immediately. "The other 8 members of my pack are right inside, so this should be relatively quick. Anything you want to say, Ian?"

Pursing my lips, I nodded. "Just that you only have 8 pack members, not 11. My cousins have so graciously left you to help me." His slight frown turned into an ugly, snarling grimace.

"Get out here, NOW!" There was a moment's pause before the door to the bar opened and the pack began filong out. The six men from the last time were there, now with two females, one of whom rushed to Jakob's side. "All I wanted was to have you as a member of my pack. Yes, I wanted to spy on the Hale idiot, but so what?! That guy is a serious liability to you, and you should've dumped him the first chance you got."

"I'd never chase off the father of my son. And you should'nt have expected me to willingly spy on him, either. So I could call you the idiot. For that, and for expecting me to trust you after you knowingly killed my family."

The look of pure hatred on Jakob's face confirmed his guilt. My sensitive ears began to pick up on sounds coming from where Derek, Scott, and Stiles were waiting. Derek was becoming restless.

And by how focused Jakob looked, he didn't hear what was going on. I could see several of his packmates looking nervous though, and glancing down the street.

"I've been waiting for this since the day they found my parents' bodies."

"Well, you won't have to wait long. You'll get to see your parents soon enough."

The air around us seemed to freeze. Nobody moved for the space of a heartbeat.

Jakob yelled out "GET THEM!"

All was chaos.

Wolves snarled and turned, their ugly faces jumping out at us, growls ripping through the formerly quiet air. I ducked out of the way, feeling one of their claws slice through where my head had been. It was the female that had stood by Jakob.

"So, are you the little tramp that's been sleeping with Jakob?" She screamed, and I grinned. I could hear Derek's struggles down the street, trying to get here, but having Scott hold him back. That wouldn't last for long.

_"I ain't no tramp, you bîtch!"_ And she came for me again.

Her claws grabbed at my shirt and sliced across my face, and I grimaced in pain. She clawed me again, and I heard someone shout "Go for the throat!"

This girl was inexperienced.

I shoved her back and swung my leg around, making contact with the side of her head. She stared at me wide-eyed for a moment before falling to the ground. Dead or unconscious, I didn't know. I wiped at my face, which was already healing, and looked around.

My three cousins were each fighting about two wolves each, and there were two standing off to the side. Jakob and the second female. I meandered my way through the fighitng to them, keeping careful ears on the scramble down the street. From what I could tell, Derek was out of the car, and about to run up here.

"That was quick, Ian...I just hope my second female will do a bit better." The she-wolf grinned wickedly.

"Why not fight me yourself? Or are you afraid?" He grimaced.

The she-wolf stepped down and appeared to be sizing me up. She didn't get the chance to attack though, thanks to my illustrious cousin Ryan.

I saw his hand snake around her neck and rip it out, blood spurting across my shirt. I winced slightly at the sickening crunch of her head hitting the sidewalk, and almost immediately she was trampled. Ryan winked and grinned before turning back to his opponent.

"Now Jakob, where were we..?" Jakob snarled and screamed, his furious eyes glowing red. His hand shot out and came around my neck.

I shot my hand out as well, but seemingly instantly, a painful cramp seized my midsection and I almost doubled over. Jakob mistook my grimace of pain for defeat.

"Don't worry, i'll be sure to save your precious Derek Hale for last...He'll get the most painful death, and i'll make sure of it. I'll slaughter him just like I did your worthless parents."

I shouted. "DEREK!" I swung a claw across Jakob's face and he momentarily released me, only for me to be taken up by two more wolves. I scrambled and fought, and in the process, saw that Danny laid bleeding on the ground motionless. "DANNY, NO!"

A hand came across my face in a hard slap.

"That'll teach you, you dirty little bîtch..." I glared up at Jakob, before hearing a bellow more painful, more furious then i'd ever heard from anyone, human or wolf.

**"DON'T YOU TOUCH MY WIFE YOU BÂSTÂRD!"** A large shape flew through the air and slammed against Jakob, throwing him to the ground. Derek stood over him, landing blows with incredible speed.

the two holding me were distracted by it, and I took the oppurtunity to change.

My howl ripped through the air, cuasing my cousins and their counterparts to pause their fighting. The change was faster this time than before.

My arms and legs sprouted out, the skin darkening into a grayish black color, and covered with fur. My teeth lengthened. My eyes glowed an almost evil red. And I stayed concious and aware through the whole thing.

I grinned internally as my clothes tore from my expanding body, too small to contain the enourmous wolf I now was. And the look on Jakob's face as he realised what was happening...

Oh, the satisfaction.

I turned my attention first to the wolves that had taken down Danny, and now ganging up on Ryan and Tyler. Tyler had a slash across his forehead, and Ryan looked to be limping.

I launched myself at them, teeth and claws tearing into the soft flesh of two of them. The other two ran, but I heard their screams follow soon after they disappeared.

I swallowed down chunks of the now dead wolves' flesh, licking across my great teeth satisfactorily. I felt my baby kicking within me, almost as if cheering me on. I kicked the dead bodies out of the way, and turned toward Derek and Jakob, now both standing.

_"You're an Alpha?"_ Jakob backed up several steps. _"The both of you?"_

Derek said "Hope you like the surprise Jakob." Derek reached for Jakob, who could only seem to keep his eyes on my massive form.

There was a loud crack as Jakob's neck was snapped, followed by several more. I laughed internally, thinking it was almost as if Derek was folding Jakob's useless body to be thrown away.

When he seemed satisfied that Jakob was dead, Derek threw the body down and came to me. I changed back into my human form, still grinning.

"Our boy was cheering for you, you know. I could almost hear him scream 'get him Daddy!'"

Derek brushed a hand across my stomach and said "I got him. Now..." Seemingly from out of nowhere he produced his leather jacket, and slung it around my shoulders. I laughed.

The laughter soon died off as I heard wet, drowned coughing. We both turned to see Tyler cradling his twins head in his lap, and blood running from Danny's mouth.

"Come on bro, you got this...It ain't nothin..." Danny smiled feebly.

"We're twins...I can tell when you're lying." He coughed again, blood spurting across Tyler's face. He seemed not to notice.

I kneeled down beside them both and said "You probably have some internal injuries. But you're gonna heal, and you'll be fine..."

"Liar...If I was going to heal from this, I would've already..."

"We'll get someone to look at you, and you'll be fine...I'm not gonna lose one of my favorite family members."

"One of your only family members." More coughing, and wheezing. "And I can't exactly go into any hospital. They'd know something was up." I frowned deeply. He was right.

I turned my head and looked around at Scott, pulling him by the pant leg. He kneeled down beside me, looking confused.

"Do you think...you could get your mom up here? Right now?" He looked shocked.

"My mom..? She doesn't know anything about us, and if she found out..."

"What more important, keeping your secret from your mom, or keeping my cousin alive?" He sighed, and eventually nodded.

"It'll take her awhile to get here, if she even will."

"She'll come because your here. She hasn't already because you're with Stiles and me." I paused, and thought. "Call Allison's family too. They'll want to know everything that's happened." I tugged on Tyler's arm. "Let's get him back to the house..."

Tyler nodded and we stood. He grabbed Danny under the arms and I took his legs, and we shuffled our way back to where we'd parked the cars. I could hear sirens starting off in the distance, and knew the police would be here soon enough.

"Stiles..." He looked up. "You should stay here, for when the police come. They'll need someone to explain what happened."

"But... _Why me?"_ I narrowed my eyes.

"Just do it, please. Tell them they all attacked each other with dogs or something, I don't care. Please?" He groaned, and begrudgingly sat on the nearby curb.

I thanked him silently as we slipped Danny into the backseat of the Camaro, Tyler and I climbing in with him.

Derek drove off immediately, leaving Ryan to take his car back with Scott. I felt bad about leaving Stiles there, but if nobody was left to say anything, fingers would start to be pointed. And with the way several of those guys had been ripped up, combined with the fact that I was in town...

My family would be among some of the first to be questioned.


	12. Our Lord Savior

"Scott! Ian?! Derek..?" went quickly from angry to confused, then went silent as she looked around at the lot of us.

It was me, Scott, Derek, and Ryan standing outside of my parent's old house, which was technically now my house, facing her. She'd just driven the four hours up from Beacon Hills without any kind of explanation.

Scott had felt we shouldn't tell her anything until she actually got here, but all of us were silent. I looked over at Scott, but he was staring at his mother, sweating.

I would've chuckled, but the situation was serious.

" ..." She, and the three others outside, all looked at me. "I know you must be very confused right now..."

"Confused? I'm _pissed!_ You practically kidnap my son, don't tell me anything about where you're going or if you're coming back, and then _this?"_ I said nothing, instead just letting her vent her frustration. "I was about to call Sheriff Stalinski, whose son was gone too, by the way, when I get this call saying someone's in trouble and you need _my_ help. What have you and my son been **doing** up here?"

"I'm sure you've heard about my parents, and we were here to figure out who killed them. My cousin, Danny, got hurt real bad, and we didn't know who else to call..."

She looked skeptical. "Why didn't you just take him to the hospital? They can take care of him a lot better than I can."

Now Scott stepped forward. "Her cousins, Derek, me...We aren't like other people, mom."

"If you mean because you've banned together and ran away from home, then..."

_"No,_ mom, we're _different."_ looked back and forth between all of us, looking surely worried. "You wouldn't uderstand, but a lot's been going on that you don't know about..."

"Well..." She looked like she didn't know what to say next. There was a brief pause before said "What did you call me up here for, besides to tell me I don't know anything?"

There was a hint of anger in her voice, but most of it was just worry. She was worried about her son, about what he had done.

"Can you please take care of Ian's cousin? I

promise, if you _please_ do this, I'll tell you everything, Mom..." She bit her lip.

"Fine...Okay, I'll do it. Can you let me see him, please?"

Scott and I lead into the house, up to Danny's bedroom. Scott remained outside the door, and I didn't blame him much.

Danny had been coughing up blood all day, and he looked **horrible.** gasped when we entered the room.

Danny's face was gaunt and white, and his chest was caved in an odd, unnatural way that looked sickeningly painful. He looked up at us, but his eyes quickly shut as he vomited blood into a bucket held by his brother, Tyler.

"We know his ribcage is broken, but beyond that..." She gasped again.

"What did you kids _do?_ This kid's chest is caved in so far he can barely breathe! Did he get hit by a truck or something?!"

"We have to save that for later...But _please,_ , is there anything you can do?"

She shrugged. "I don't know...I can't see everywhere he's hurt without going to the hospital, but it _looks_ like his ribs might be puncturing his lungs...How has he survived this long?" I shook my head, and she nodded. _For later._

"Okay, uh..." She set her bag down, which I saw had at least basic medical supplies in it. "Your cousin needs surgery. there's no **way** I cand o something like that here...He needs a sterile environment, with lots of drapes, and plenty of medication for his pain..."

"We've been giving him shots of morphine every half hour or so, for the pain...It only helps for a little while, though." Because of his wolf metabolism, he burned the morphine off quicker than a normal person would.

"Where'd you get _morphine?"_ When we were silent, she shook her head. "Nevermind, I don't want to know...Do you have any more? If I'm going to be working on him, God knows why I'm even agreeing to, then he'll need enough to put him out for a while."

I looked over at Tyler, who was sitting by his brothers head. He nodded sadly, then slowly got up to retrieve the vial and syringe from the refridgerator.

By the time he came back, and I were hanging sheets on the window and walls, and everyone else had gone downstairs to sit in the front room. They were deathly silent.

A nudge in my lower abdomen punctuated my thoughts, and my hand immediately went to my stomach. Though technically I was only a couple of months along, I looked to be about 22 weeks. I knew it would only be a short matter of time before my baby was ready to come out into the world.

I looked down at Danny, who was wiping the blood from his mouth with a paper towel, and thought of what I'd feel if someone did something like _that_ to my baby.

I'd surely kill them, with my own two hands. My own two **human** hands.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I watched as carefully wiped down Danny's torso with a sterilizing solution, and then the few tools she'd brought with her, along with some we'd stolen from the local hospital.

Some clamps, stitching thread, surgical tubing, medical glue, and several things I didn't recognize, along with the standard scalpels and scissors.

I went and stood by Danny's head, making sure the IV we'd hooked up was dripping right, though the constant drip-drip resounded in my over-sensitive ears even from across the room. We'd knocked him out several minutes ago with a rather large dose of morphine, and I prayed that he would stay contentedly asleep throughout the whole procedure. If he had to wake up in the middle of all that pain...

I shuddered, and came to me.

"You don't need to be here, Ian...I can have someone else help me..." I could hear the apprehension in her voice as she lied to me.

"It's ok ...Melissa. I'm just anxious to get this overwith." She nodded slowly and took a scalpel in her gloved hands. I looked down at my own hands, covered by the same white latex gloves that were standard in probably every hospital. I didn't feel much like one of those doctors, ready to save someone's life.

I felt like a funeral worker, readying my subject for burial.

I shuddered again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**(Derek's PointOfView)**

"When did she die?"

"Last night...We tried to call Ian, but she didn't answer, and you were the only other person we could think to call...Is Ian okay?" On the phone was Ian's friend, Kay. Informing me that Ian's pitbull/rottweiler, Kitty, had passed away the night before. Another thing that would be eating away at her while she waited for her cousin to recover.

"Sort-of...I don't really know. Her and her cousin Tyler have been taking care of Danny since he got hurt..." Scott's mom had come up about 3 days ago to fix him, and Ian hadn't left his side since. I'd already called before to tell her friends everything that'd happened. They'd taken Danny's injuries almost as hard as Ian had.

"Are you making sure she's eating? I don't want anything to happen to the baby because of all this..."

"I take food up there everyday, but she barely picks at it...If this continues for much longer I think i'm gonna have to bring her back to Beacon Hills by force." I heard a low growl, and knew Ian had been listening from upstairs. "But she doesn't want to leave, not until he gets better..."

"Well...can you tell her to call me? Her friends Stiles and Scott are back in Beacon Hills now, and they want to know what's up. Me and Rachel, too."

"I'll tell her."

"Thank you Derek, really."

"Yeah." I hung up the phone and tapped it against my knee, thinking.

Ian's cousin was healing well, but even if he turned out fine, there was no guarantee that she'd want to leave. And with Scott and his little friend gone, we were more isolated from Beacon Hills than before.

This situation was ridiculous.

I stood and went slowly up the stairs, hearing Ian moving around in her cousin's bedroom. I saw the plate of food i'd left for her sitting outside the doorway, untouched.

I opened the door and could see Ian kneeling beside Danny, and Tyler standing again the opposite wall. I shot him a look and he exited the room, leaving Ian and I dâmn near alone. Luckily, Danny was sleeping, and probably wouldn't hear a thing.

"Ian, you can't stay holed up in this room forever...You need to eat, and we need to go back to Beacon Hills." She shook her head.

"No. I'm taking care of Danny, and I'm not going anywhere until he's better."

"Then will you eat the food I set out? I know you're hungry, and I know the baby is too." She shook her head again, and I groaned. "Is there anything that I can do to help? You just...shouldn't be like this."

"My cousin and the rest of my family almost died, and from what I could hear, my dog died. There has been too much dâmn drama since I moved to Beacon Hills..."

"Am I drama then? Am I such a problem?" Ian was silent. "Or are you no longer glad you moved to Beacon Hills and found me, like you told me that one day?" I heard a sniffle and she turned her head to look at me.

Her eyes were swollen from crying, and her face looked...ghastly. I could tell something was different as she struggled to stand up, too.

"Ian..." She held up a hand.

"Just...look." She gripped the nearby dresser and pulled herself to her feet, and my eyes shot to her belly. Her very _round_ belly. "It started growing faster right after I changed into the Alpha, when we fought Jakob...I'm about 6 and a half months along now."

"What..? How did you just skip a whole month and a half of pregnancy? Nothing like this ever happened with any of my family!" She turned away slightly at my raised voice.

"You remember, the baby was growing fast right from the beginning...Probably because we're both werewolves, and Alphas at that. It's not gonna be much longer before our son is ready to come into this world..."

Ian looked down at her stomach, and I watched how she rubbed at it with both hands. She did that when she was worried.

I went to her and covered her hands with mine.

" said Danny should be fine, as long as he stays in bed...The rest of your family is okay too, and so are we. We've survived drama, wolf fights, and even Jakob trying to kill us. We can survive starting our family."

I heard Ian sniffle and she turned her face up to mine.

"But can we hold out on going back, just a little longer? I...I want to pack up some of my parents stuff, to take with us." I nodded and she reach up on her toes, planting her warm lips against mine in a soft kiss.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**(Ian's PointOfView)**

I lay back on the soft, familiar silk of my bed, staring up at the ceiling. My hands rested on my now large abdomen, feeling when my beautiful son kicked. A wide smile spread across my face each time I felt his small hands or feet press against me, letting me know he was there.

When deliberately light footsteps made their way up to my door, I didn't sit up to look, or try to cover my bare stomach from sight. My wolf senses were so sharp, I could tell who it was. Who _they_ were.

"Ian?" Kay, and...Derek.

"Where's Rachel?"

"She had work...I told her you got back, but that everything was okay, so she shouldn't leave. Can we come in?" I deliberated.

Nobody had yet seen my engorged midsection besides my family, and Derek, of course. After all that had happenned in Westwood, I didn't think it best to tell them yet. But I suppose it'd be out now.

"Yes." As Kay opened the door, I slid up and leaned against my headboard, keeping my hands on my belly. Her eyes widened perceptibly. "What d'you think?"

Her mouth opened and closed, but nothing came out right away. I eyed Derek as he went and leaned against one of the dressers that now contained a cache of both my and his clothes.

"You're so much...bigger. How did that even _happen?"_ I shrugged and she turned to Derek, who repeated the gesture. "You didn't leave that long ago..."

"It's probably because we're both werewolves...But it's not like we can go to the hospital and find out for sure. The only one outside of all of us that knows is Scott's mom, and she isn't exactly talking to any of us right now." Kay nodded, understanding. "Is Charlie downstairs?"

"Yeah, she's in the backyard...Want me to get her?" I nodded and she turned from me, shutting my bedroom door as she left the room.

I sighed and laid back down as Derek climbed onto the bed with me, laying by my side.

"My dog dies. My cousin and boyfriend almost die. I grow freakishly huge almost overnight. What else could go wrong?"

I felt Derek's hands slide over mine, and he leaned his face in for a kiss.

"Yes, all those bad things did happen. But think of the good. Your cousin and the rest of us all survived, and we're so much closer to seeing the beautiful baby we've made. Think of what he'll look like, what he'll _be_ like."

When I tried to imagine what our son would be like, all I could imagine was a younger version of Derek, but with my bright blue eyes.

"All I see is another you..." He chuckled, low and gruff. "I really hope he comes out like you. Lord knows the world doesn't need another me..."

"Hey, don't say that." Derek hoisted himself up on his elbow, so he could see down into my face. "I fell in love with _you,_ not someone else. I'm gonna have a baby with _you._ I'm gonna marry _you._ I don't want _you_ to be anyone else but _you._ And if he turns out to be like you? It'll be a blessing to everyone."

I chuckled to myself. Derek almost never spoke so sweetly, and even more rarely about our baby.

"We're engaged, but I don't have a ring...Not that i'm asking for one! You don't have to get me one...But I'd _like_ one..." Derek was grinning, so I lapsed into silence.

A moment or two later, he said "I was actually thinking about that, when we were in Westwood..." I waited anxiously. "So I went looking in some local places, while you were holed up in that room with Danny..."

I remember he'd left for a while, but at the time, I hadn't cared or thought about it much. It was driving me crazy now, of course.

"And?"

"And this." He reached for his leather jacket, which lay on the floor beside my bed, and extracted something from one of the pockets. He paused to look at the black velvety box before handing it to me. "I thought you'd like it. It kinda went with our situation..."

I opened the box and, in the satin lining sat a silver ring. Several glittering diamonds adorned the top and framing these was inlaid turquoise, in the shape of wolf paws.

"It's...It's beautiful! Oh, you must've spent so much money on it, it...Oh, I love it!"

And when he took it out of the box to slide it on my fourth finger, it fit perfectly.


	13. Returning To Normal

I let the phone ring a few times and was about to hang up, when he finally answered.

"Ian?" It was Stiles. "Are you okay? I haven't seen you since I left Westwood, and Scott told me you came back..."

"I'm...okay. About as okay as I can be, anyway." As I talked, I stroked my stomach with my right hand. When I settled it against the large bulge, I could feel my baby's foot press against it lightly. I smiled. "I need a ride today, and was wondering if you could help me..."

"Well..." He sounded unsure. "I have to pick up Scott in a few minutes, and then we have to go to school..."

"That's where i'm going." I heard Stiles inhale sharply.

"Why? I thought you quit?"

"I'm taking

the GED test today. I had them set up a special time for me, since...you know...Can you help me?"

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the line before he answered. "I'll be over, after I get Scott. Will you be waiting outside?"

"Yes. Thank you, Stiles, really."

"Just be outside...alone. Bye Ian."

"Bye." I hung up the phone, a slight smile on my face. Stiles was still nervous to be around Derek.

I hadnt gotten the chance to tell Stiles that Derek wasn't here, though. He'd left early in the morning, just as i'd awoken to use the bathroom. To go speak to the Argents, I think.

I stood and got up from my bed, and slowly made my way down the stairs. Kay was sitting in the TV room, watching the news, and Rachel was in the kitchen, fixing herself something for breakfast. The smells of the different foods in the fridge wafted my way, and I decided to join Rachel in finding something to eat.

Her eyes drifted to me when I walked in, and widened a bit.

"You want some of this?" I looked down at the pan she was holding, that held what looked like an omelette. I shook my head.

"That's your food. I'll make something myself. I'm not completely crippled, you know." She chuckled and went back to finishing her food.

I went to the fridge and opened it, and saw nothing I wanted. I opened the freezer and, after scanning the shelves, spotted exactly what I was craving. When I pulled the box out, Rachel eyed me again.

"You're really going to eat microwaved breakfast burritos? Won't they upset your stomach?" I shook my head and set the box down, and went to one of the cabinets for a plate.

"It's something quick and simple. I have to go to the school today to take that GED test, and I don't feel like cooking something up properly."

"Who's going to take you?"

"Stiles is going to pick me up, after he gets Scott."

"Where's...Derek?" I noticed the slight hesitation in her voice as she said his name. She was a bit uncomfortable, and I didn't blame her.

"He left early this morning, to go talk to the Argents...Are you okay Rachel?" She shrugged a bit, and dished out her food onto a plate.

After eating her first bite, she swallowed and started slowly. " , Scott's mom, came up to me in the hospital yesterday as I was leaving...She asked me if I knew about...what you are. And what her son is." I nodded, and motioned for her to continue as I prepared my food. "I said yes, and I told her what I knew. Most of it she already knew, did you tell her?" I nodded.

"When she came up to Westwood to help Danny, we told her almost everything."

Rachel nodded and went on. "She sounded a little scared, but mostly worried...about you." I looked at Rachel, puzzled. At my confused expression, she said "She explained about when she gave you an ultrasound, and how when she saw you in Westwood, your belly was so much _bigger._ She told me I should bring you in again, so she can take another look at you. I told her you were big just because you're a wolf, and Derek too, but..."

I held up a hand and Rachel quieted.

"I'll go see her at the hospital, after i'm done with the testing. Will you be there with her?" She nodded. "Good. I know i'm not 's favorite person right now, because of how Scott is...But i'll see you, okay?"

The microwave beeped, and I removed my plate, which was now steaming from the heated breakfast burritos. I took that and my bag, and went outside to sit on the porch. The day was relatively warm, so I didn't bother grabbing a jacket.

I sat on the porch steps and ate, every now and then pausing when the baby would kick me in one place or another. He was unusually active this morning. I smiled again, thinking it could be because he knew his daddy wasn't here.

It was an impossible thought, but it seemed right.

After i'd finished, I pulled myself to my feet, and went inside to put the plate in the sink. As I did, I could hear Stiles' Jeep pulling up to the house, and someone getting out of it.

It was Scott, coming up to knock on the door. I reached it before him, though, and pulled it open. He looked momentarily surprised, but quickly composed himself.

"Ian, you're...Wow'." I ignored the way his eyes travelled to my swollen belly, and stepped out of the doorway.

"Are we going?"

"Oh, yeah...Come on." I made my way to the Jeep, trailing behind Scott the littlest bit. He climbed in the backseat and I handed him my bag, and I hoisted myself up into the passenger seat.

Stiles looked at me and said "Please don't start going into labor on my seat...I'm in enough trouble with my dad as it is."

I smirked and said "Relax, Stiles...I still have a little bit to go before i'm ready to pop out my son."

I shut my door and the Jeep pulled away, and I rested my hands on my belly.

In the backseat, I heard Scott say "Where did that come from?" I followed his eyes to the large, glittering ring on my fourth left hand finger. "It's...pretty."

I resisted the urge to chuckle, and instead said "Derek gave it to me. You need to have a ring if you're going to be engaged, right?"

The tension in the car went way up, most of it eminating from Scott. He was angry, I could tell.

"You two are...engaged?" I nodded.

"Calm down Scott...We decided a while ago that this was best. He just gave me the ring after we got back from Westwood, because he hadn't gotten the chance to buy one before now." He calmed down a bit.

"When will it be?" I shrugged.

"We haven't decided. Definitely after the baby is born, but besides that, I don't know."

A long silence filled the Jeep and, by the time we arrived at the school, I could tell Scott had calmed down quite a bit. He'd stopped clenching his fists up, at least.

Before getting out, I quickly scanned the parking lot for people. Most of them were either already inside, or heading that way, and only about 20 or so remained in the parking lot. I recognized several cars as that of Allison, who was making her way to us, and that of Jackson, who wasn't around.

The three of us got out as Allison made her way over. I simply smiled as she came up and gave Scott a quick hug and kiss, then took her time to marvel at me.

"Ian, you got so **big.** My dad told me there was something up with you, but I didn't know you were having a baby! You should've told me!"

I shrugged, happy that she didn't freak out at all. I wasn't exactly sure how much she knew about my situation, and I didn't want to spill anything she didn't already know.

""Well, i'm surprised Scott didn't tell you. He's known for quite a while." She turned to Scott, who looked away, embarassed. "Derek and I are very happy that we're going to have our son soon."

"Derek...how long have you been with him again?"

"A few months. Because we're both wolves, that's why our little boy is growing so fast." Scott tensed, but Allison remained calm. She was good. "And look." I held up my left hand and she sighed.

"I wish I had a ring that pretty...Congratulations to you and Derek, though! Why're you here at school, anyway? Scott said you quit."

"I'm here to take the GED test. They set it up special for me, since...you know..." She nodded. "Anyway, you should get to class. I don't want you getting in trouble for waiting up on me."

I waved goodbye to Allison and Scott as they made their way to their classes. Stiles stuck behind, and accompanied me to the main office.

"Don't you still have first period with Scott?" He shook his head.

"They switched his schedule around, because he was failing Chemistry...because of the wolf stuff, and not being here...Partially your fault, you know."

I chuckled a bit. "I know, I know...But he's been trying to catch up, right? If he flunks the 11th grade because of me, I'm gonna feel like crap. So make sure you help him if he needs it."

He waved it off and we both chuckled.

We reached the front doors of the school then, and as we entered, all eyes turned our way. I could read the astonishment very plainly in everyone's eyes as they first took in Stiles and me, then the enormity of my stomach.

As we walked down the hall towards the main office, I could hear all of their whispers and giggles, as if I were standing beside each and every one of them.

_Who's that?_  
_That one girl, Ian. But what's she walking with __**him?**_  
_Look at her, she's pregnant! When did __**that**__ happen?_  
_I wonder who the dad is. Definitely can't be __**that**__ guy._

I chuckled a bit at that last one, and Stiles looked at me oddly. As we reached the main office, I said "They're debating on who the father is."

"Wouldn't they all roll if they knew."

The secretary looked up at us then. She seemed to recognize Stiles almost immediately.

" ...Shouldn't you be getting to class? After your recent _excursion,_ your father requested that he be called, should you miss any more of your classes."

"But, I was helping her..." The secretary gave a stern look, and Stiles seemed to give up. He turned to me and said "Guess I'll see you later...If I'm _allowed."_

"Go on, before you get into any more trouble." He turned and left the office, and the secretary looked at me. "Sorry if that was a bit of trouble."

"No problem at all. But I will be calling his father if he skips a class again." I bit my lip, knowing **that** was my fault. "Now, you're the one they set up the special GED testing for today, right?"

I motioned to my stomach and said "You could tell?" She laughed a bit and turned to a stack of paperwork off to the side of her computer.

After ruffling through it a bit, she pulled out a price with my name at the top.

"Here you go." She handed it to me and said "Go to the library and show the librarian this paper, and she'll direct you to where they'll be giving you the exam. Good luck, ."

"Thanks..." I exited the office then, and made my way down the near-empty hall. First bell had rung, and everyone was in their classes.

Everyone but the one person I didn't want to see.

"Ian..." I could hear Jackson's footsteps approach me long before he spoke my name, but I still feigned surprise. He was one of the ones that I wasn't sure exactly what he knew. I wasn't going to take a chance, though, and say anything. "Heard you got back from your little 'vacation' with that loser, Scott." I ground my teeth together, but stayed silent. "What the hêll were you two doing that you were gone for two weeks? With his little loser friend, Stiles, too."

"It is none of your concern, **Jackson."** I didn't hide the contempt in my voice, and he looked pleasantly surprised. "I don't appreciate the way you're speaking to me, so i'll be going. I'd like to make it to the library for my GED testing, because I have to get an ultrasound at the hospital afterwards." I didn't actually have to, but me being so obviously pregnant, it was something I knew he'd believe.

His eyes looked down at my stomach before flicking back up to my face.

"Why worry about the health of your little wolf baby? It's going to come out just like you, anyway." I narrowed my eyes, and he stared me down. So he **did** know. Now it was just a question of how much he knew.

"I worry about my baby because it's just that. **My** baby. And what **my** baby turns out to be is none of your business." He put his hand against the locker beside me and leaned on it, appearing to be casually entertained. I wanted to rip his throat out.

"Oh, I think it is my business. Because I think the town would throw a bit of a fit if they knew exactly what kinds of animals were infesting it. Speaking of that..." When he leaned in slowly, I tensed, ready to hit him if I had to. He spoke softly in my ear "Who is that baby's father? It wouldn't happen to be...Scott, would it?"

I put my hand on Jackson's chest and pushed him, and he smacked against the lockers. He looked pissed.

"Don't ever insult me like that! Scott is my friend, and nothing else, and I would never betray Allison by doing something like that. I know who my baby's father is, and if you _ever_ say _anything_ like that to me again, he and Scott will both come and rip you to **pieces."** Jackson looked shocked momentarily, but quickly recovered himself.

He stood up and fixed his jacket and said "Well, you can tell your precious _Scott_ that he and I need to have a little talk. Maybe he can bring his friend Derek too. I'm assuming _that's_ who you've been sleeping with?" When I didn't say anything, he simply turned and walked down the hall, disappearing around a corner.

The entire time, I could feel my Alpha wolf fighting it's way to the surface, trying desperately to break free and destroy Jackson. I held it in though, and I could feel the baby kicking up a storm inside me.

I rubbed my stomach and murmured "Calm down, calm down...Your daddy will take care of _that boy_ soon enough..."

My somewhat soothing words seemed to work, and the baby calmed, and I once again made my way towards the school's library.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Thank you for your time, ...The results of your test should come soon, and we will call you as soon as they do."

"Thank you." I shook the test administrator's hand and stood up, supporting the lower part of my swollen belly with my left hand.

I pulled my bag up onto my shoulder and exited the school library, noting that it was just past noon. I'd finished the test rather quickly, and there was still a few hours left before school ended. Which meant i'd have to walk home.

I groaned and made my way to the front of the school, and when I got to the front doors, I saw that it was drizzling out. Not too bad, but I'd be soaked by the time I made it home. Because I sure as hêll wouldn't be running at wolf speed in the rain, and being pregnant. That was just reckless.

I decided to walk into town, and take refuge in one of the many shops and restaurants until the rain softened up. By then, Derek would probably be back from wherever he was with the Argents, or Scott and Stiles would be done with school.

I hurried across the student parking lot and onto the main road that led into town. A car would pass me every few minutes, sometimes kicking up a little spray of water, but it usually didn't wet more than my feet. I was wearing sandals, so I figured I was alright.

As the shops and restaurant began to crop up, the rain started to come down harder. I hurried my pace a little bit, and when my sensitive ears heard the first peals of thunder, I broke out into a run.

Not a full wolf run, but I held my hands over my belly as I hurried down the street, looking for a mostly empty shop I could run into quickly. A bit of a smile crossed my face when I spotted to pizza shop, the one Rachel, Kay, and I had visited when we first came here, and now frequented whenever we didn't feel like cooking.

I looked both ways and hurried across the street, and just as another peal of thunder raced through the air, I pushed the door open and raced inside.

Breathing a bit heavier now, I leaned against one of the tables and inhaled deeply. I looked over at the counter and saw only one person behind it, a boy. He looked to be about 20 or so, and raised his eyebrow as I stared at him.

"Do you need some help?"

"Just...trying to escape from the rain. It's getting pretty heavy out there."

"I saw." He looked to deliberate for a few moments, then went through a door to his side and crossed the shop floor to where I was standing. "Here, i'll help you." He took my bag, which was now soaked, and helped me to one of the tables near the counter. "Want something to eat?"

I chuckled a bit. "How much is it gonna cost me?"

He shrugged and said "How about you get a slice of pizza for free? I'm sure the owner wouldn't care, since you have a baby and all."

"Well then, I'll take a slice of whatever you've got."

"Coming right up." He went behind the counter to a row of pizzas under heating lamps. "Made fresh this morning, by me personally." He pulled two slices of regular cheese off of a half-gone pizza and put them on a plate, and handed them to be along with a bottle of .

"Hey, you got my favorite kind of soda. Nice."

"Well, you're Ian Moore, right?" I raised an eyebrow at the kid. "We get orders from your house maybe, once a week? I'm here a lot, so I'm usually the one that has to fill them. It's always a large meat lover's pizza with two Sprites and a ." I laughed a bit and set the plate and bottle down.

"Can I help loving it? Um...do you have anything I can dry off with? I don't want to drip water all over my food."

"Sure." He went back into the kitchen, out of sight, and re-emerged several moments later with a dingy white towel. "It's a bit dirty, but it should do the trick..."

"That's ok, as long as i'm dry." I took the towel, which smell faintly of pizzas, and wiped it over my face and hair. Once that was pretty much dry, I shook of my sandals and dried my feet. "Hope the owner doesn't mind this, either."

The boy chuckled. "He shouldn't. He is my uncle, after all."

"Well, I guess you can do whatever you want, huh?"

He shrugged and, with a smile, said "Pretty much. By the way, my name's Skylar."

"I'd tell you my name, but you already know that, huh?" We both laughed.

Skylar went back into the kitchen again as I began to eat. I watched the rain fall harder, and lightning cut trails across the sky, always followed by thunder that rattled the shop windows.

I was close to finishing my food when Skylar reappeared, wearing what I guessed to be his casual clothes. Plain jeans and a loose gray T-shirt.

I pushed my food away when he approached, and said "I guess I wasn't that hungry...My stomach's feeling a little upset."

"Okay." He took the paper plate and tossed it in the garbage, and I watched as more lightning arced across the sky. "I didn't really think the storm would get this bad. You're lucky you walked in when you did. I probably would've closed up sooner if you hadn't."

"Well, thanks on that note." The ache that had persisted in my abdomen since I'd ran in the shop strengthened, and I began to rub my bulging midsection. "Is there a phone I could use? I'd like to call my fiancé, to see if he could make it over here."

"In this weather?"

"4-wheel drive Camaro." Skylar chuckled and pulled out a cell phone.

"No wonder you're engaged to the guy." I gave him an incredulous look before dialing Derek's cell phone number.

It rang only once before he answered "Hello?"

"Been missing me all day?" I heard Derek's small intake of breath as he realized who I was.

"Where are you? I'm at your house."

"After the GED testing, I left the school, but it started to rain really hard...And I bet you've seen what it looks like now."

"I'll come to get you. I'll have to take the long way in this weather though..." That meant he wouldn't be here for at least half an hour.

I groaned and rubbed at my stomach again. "Please hurry, Derek. This lightning is unsettling to me _and_ the baby."

"I'll be right there." I handed the phone back to Skylar. "My ride will be here in half an hour or so."

"Good...You okay?" I nodded as I still rubbed at my stomach.

"Just hurts a bit, is all...Running pregnant in a storm can do the to a girl." I chuckled a bit, but it was a forced sound. The pain really was coming much stronger now than earlier.

"Well, when did it start?"

I looked at his hazel eyes oddly for a moment before saying "Just after I left the school, when the rain really started to come down. Why?"

"Well, I'm no expert, but I was there when my nephew was born, and...Are you sure you're not having contractions or something?"

My eyes widened considerably and I stared, open-mouthed, at this person who was still mostly a stranger to me.

"No, that's impossible...I'm not due to deliver for a few more weeks..."

Unless the baby had another 'growth spurt.' If it'd been growing even faster, and I didn't notice, then this stranger in this pizza shop could be right...

I started to shake my head, even as the pain continued to roll through me.

"No, that can't be right! Derek and I were so careful, we had everything planned..." I was supposed to deliver at the hospital with Rachel and present, because they'd both helped to deliver babies before. "I can't be going into labor at a _pizza shop!"_ Skylar flinched a bit when I raised my voice. "Sorry..."

"It's okay, really...Oh shît, I have **no** idea what to do!" I could hear the panic in his voice.

"My fiancé Derek will be here, and he'll take me to the hospital, and I'll be okay..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Except I wasn't. The half hour came and went, and Derek didn't show.

I was panicking by this point.

"Oh god, he's not gonna show..." I paced back and forth in front of Skylar. "What if..? Oh god, I hope he can get here..."

"Relax. Here, sit down on the floor and just _calm down."_ I sat, only because I didn't feel like arguing. "How about I call your fiancé again, and tell him what's happening? Just...sit there and breathe."

I watched as he went and leaned against the shop counter and redialed the last call made from his phone.

I could hear the other end ring, and Derek answer in a hurried tone.

"Ian?!"

"This is Skylar...Your fiancé came into my pizza shop..."

"Is she okay? Where is she?"

"I have her sitting on the floor, trying to relax...We think she might be going into labor."

Derek uttered several loud curses, and my mouth dropped open.

"She hasn't actually started to...have the baby yet, has she? This damn road is blocked and I can't get around..."

"I'm not sure how far her labor is, but I think she might have to start pushing soon."

Almost as soon as Skylar said that, I felt liquid in the seat of my pants, and the pain in my lower abdomen intensified. I looked over at Skylar, horrified, motioning for the phone.

He kneeled beside me and, seeing the small puddle I now sat in, groaned.

He handed me the phone before standing and running back into the kitchen.

"Derek?!"

"Ian?! Are you okay? How's the baby?"

"I think he's ready to come out, Derek..." A whimper escaped my lips, and I resisted the urge to cry. "I'm scared, Derek..."

"Don't worry baby, I'll be there in no time..." I heard a rush of wind on the other end.

"Wait, you're not gonna try to walk in this, are you? No, you'll never make it!"

"Don't you remember what we just went through with Jakob? I'm sure I can handle a bit of a storm." His voice became harder to hear in the loudness of the storm. "I'll be there soon."

"Okay...Just please make it here in one piece..." The phone cut off before I could say anything else.

I looked up, even more panicked and terrified than before, at Skylar, who held more of the dingy dish towels in his hands.

"He said he's on his way, but...I don't know if he'll make it in time...Should we call an ambulance now?" Skylar nodded.

"I'll do that, you...God, I have no idea what to do!"

Neither did I.

How was me and someone I'd just met supposed to deliver my baby, alone, in a pizza shop, in the middle of a storm?


	14. A New Life

"What?! What do you mean you don't have any ambulances available? The goddamned hospital is barely 2 miles away, and I know for certain they have ambulances!" Skylar paused mid-rant to listen to something the 911-operator was saying. "Of course. Thanks for no help at all."

He hung up and nearly threw his phone against the wall.

"They...can't come?" My speech was slow, and my breathing hard. The pain had been steadily climbing in intensity, and now was really bothering me.

"They said that they don't have any ambulances because they only have two, and one left awhile ago to transfer someone to another town's hospital. The other ambulance is broken down, apparently."

"Can you try...my fiancé again..?" He nodded, and punched a couple of buttons.

It rung several times before Derek picked up.

"Ian?!"

"Skylar again. We called 911, but they don't have any ambulances available, so we're stuck here. How close are you?"

"I just got to the hospital now. I tried to get them to send someone out to you..."

"Skylar!" He looked down at me. "Tell Derek to find... ...She knows about my situation..."

He repeated what I said into the phone. "Your fiancée said to get a ? Is she a

doctor there or something?"

"Head nurse. I'm not going to be able to leave for awhile, because of how bad the storms gotten."

As Derek talked to Skylar over the phone, a sharper pain pierced my abdomen and I almost cried out, clamping my hand over my mouth. My hand was wet with perspiration, and so was about the rest of my body.

I knew the time was coming.

I reached down and unbuttoned the waist of my jeans, and Skylar's eyes widened.

"What are you doing?!"

"It's coming, I can feel it...Oh god..." I kicked off my jeans and Skylar looked away, face reddening. "Give me...the phone..."

"Here, I'll put it on speaker." He pressed a button and laid the phone on the floor beside me.

When Derek's voice emanated from the phone's speaker, a smile spread across my face, despite the immense pain I was in.

"Ian?! You there?!" I could hear the worry, and just a bit of panic, in his voice.

"I'm here! Oh jeez, the baby's about to be here to I can feel it...Why can't you leave the hospital?"

"It's getting too bad outside, they locked the whole place down...I found Scott's mom though, she wants to talk to you." There was a shuffling noise and I heard Melissa McCall's voice now.

"Ian?! You're having the baby right now?!"

"Yes! The contractions started awhile ago, maybe an hour and a half, two hours, but they're coming really bad now..."

"How far apart?"

"I...I don't know, but my water broke awhile ago, and it just _feels_ like the baby is coming...What do I do?!"

"First of all, you need to take your pants and underwear off, and look to see if you can see the head. Can you?"

I looked up at Skylar, who began swinging his head side to side, holding his hands up.

"There's no way I can do that! Do this! I don't know you!"

"Please!" He groaned and got down on his knees, and looked between my bare legs. "Can you see the baby?"

"Not yet..."

Over the phone, said "Okay, that means you have more time to get ready...Okay, you have to lay down some towels or blankets or something on the floor, to make the environment as sterile as possible for the baby."

Skylar reached for the pile of towels beside us and spread several of them on the floor, and I sat on the messy pile.

"What now?"

"Uh...Dammit, if only I was there...You'll need something to keep the baby warm, like more towels, a coat, or some aluminum foil."

"You can use my jacket, it's not wet."

"Okay, that's good...And you'll need a pair of scissors to cut the cord, and something to tie it off."

"Would a shoelace work?"

"Perfect." Skylar sat on the floor beside me and pulled off his sneakers, and began unlacing them. "Ian?"

"Yeah?"

"Sit back against something hard...Like a wall. It'll help the process if you have something to push against."

"I'm leaning against one of the booths."

"That should be fine." I heard some rustling and rushing on the other end of the line. "We just got word that the ambulance arrived at that other hospital. They're going to do the transfer and head right back to Beacon Hills to get you."

"Is Derek there?"

"Here, I'll give him the phone back. But make it quick, I need to be talking to you the entire time."

"Okay." I heard the phone switch hands and said "When this is all over, promise you won't try to kill this Skylar guy for touching me. He's only helping."

"I know...But it should be **me** over there helping you."

"I know, I know..." I felt another contraction, and the overwhelming urge to push. This time, I couldn't hold back my scream. _"Ahhhhhhh!"_

Skylar's hands shot up to cover his ears as my scream ran through the quiet pizza shop.

"Ian!" Derek shouted over the phone, but I heard it ripped form his hands and came back on the line.

"Ian, is it another contraction?!"

"Yes!" I leaned heavily and braced my hands against my legs, ready to push. "I'm sorry , but I have to push now...I just can't hold it any more..."

"That's okay Ian, I think it's time for you to push, too. You...Skylar, you have to sit by Ian's legs so you can see the baby coming out. Can you do that?"

"Yeah..."

"Okay, so when the baby..."

The line suddenly went silent. I looked up at skylar, panicked.

"What happened., why'd it go quiet?!"

He scrambled for his phone and held the screen close to his face, and cursed loudly.

"Dâmmit! The battery's dying...We're not gonna be able to make any more phone calls tonight."

_"What?!"_

"I'm sorry! I didn't think I'd need to charge it before I came to work, I thought I'd be leaving sooner than this...I'm so sorry, Ian."

"It's okay...Oh my god, we're on our own now!"

"Well, at least she told us some of what to do, and we have all this stuff ready...We can do this, I'm sure."

"Really?" He looked down at me, his hazel eyes connecting deeply with my blue ones, and I felt a little better.

"We have to. Now, she said I have to sit here, and you have to push against that for support...You ready?" I shook my head, feeling the tears coming from my eyes. "Come on, Ian, you have to do this! For you, your baby, for your fiancé!"

"Shut up, okay?! Just shut up!" As I shouted as this man that was only trying to help, another contraction squeezed my midsection, and I squeezed right along with it.

I held tightly onto the booth seats on either side of me, and dug my fingers in as I squeezed my leg muscles. I heard the fabric and foam of the seats tearing, and my fingernails scratching at the hard plastic surface underneath.

I let my muscles go and took in several deep breaths, now feeling somewhat lightheaded. I could feel the energy draining out of my body as I'd pushed.

"Who ah, you have a bit of a grip there...We're probably gonna have to replace those..."

"Sorry, I'm...strong."

"So I noticed." Skylar took a peek between my legs and said "No baby, yet, but there's a bit of blood...That's normal, I think. My brother's wife bled some..."

I laughed a forced, painful laugh, and Skylar looked at me oddly.

"There's nothing normal about me having this baby...And I don't just mean that we're in a pizza shop." I could feel another contraction coming and groaned. I inhaled a deep breath and said "Get ready."

He nodded as I gripped the seats again and squeezed.

This time, I heard the part of the seat I was resting against crack and begin to break.

_"Oh god you baby, you'd better come out after all this damned work i'm doing!"_

I let go again, my heard starting to spin. It calmed a bit when I took some breaths.

"Skylar...I don't know if I can do this...I just don't..." I could hear the sobs in my voice as tears continued to pour down my face.

"You have to! If you don't push this baby out right now he could die, and so could you. Do you really want that to happen?!"

"Of course not! What in the hell kinda person would..!"

At that moment, a loud bang rattled the windows of the shop again, and I thought it was the thunder again. Until the banging started to repeat itself, accompanied by someone trying to shout over the sound of the rain.

"Hey! You guys in there?! Open the dâmned door!"

"Derek!" Skylar stood and ran to the door, unlocking it and watching nearly fall through. He quickly locked the door up again, almost slipping on the rain that had gotten in. "What in the hêll are you doing here?!"

"To help you!" He looked down at how I was positioned against the booth and how my body was on display, and i saw his eyes fill with anger. "As soon as that phone cut off, I had to get over here...Though the cops will probably be looking for me again. Took out a security guard on my way out."

"Oh my god, why'd you go and...Oooh shît, it's another one..!" My stomach muscles began to contract and my face contorted in pain.

Skylar scrambled back to his place between my legs and said "Oh my god..." I glared wat him with eyes wide and he said "The...the head, I can see a little bit of it..."

The anger instantly vanished from Derek's eyes as he dropped to the floor beside Skylar, and looked for himself.

When his bright green eyes returned to mine, there was a mixture of anxiety and pure joy...and tears.

"This thing isn't working...Derek, you need to get behind her, support her, let her push against you...It'll be better than decimating our booths."

I scooted forward a bit and Derek slipped behind me, a leg on either side, and brought his arms around me.

I leaned back against his warm body and he took my hands in his.

Down between my legs, Skylar said "Okay...Let's do this!"

I squeezed as hard as I could, digging the heels of my feet into the linoleum floor, and bracing myself against Derek. I could feel the baby move within me, going downward towards what would be a new world for him.

My head felt like it was about to burst right along with my lungs, which were gasping for air. I let go for just a second to inhale some air, when...

I heard it. All three of us froze as a loud, high pitched wail sounded through the shop, piercing our eardrums and setting the tears down my face faster than ever.

"Oh my god..! Ian come on, you can't stop now, you have to keep going!"

Through my baby's screams of protest and my screams of pain, I pushed again, holding it until I felt the baby slip from me, landing on the soft pad of towels Skylar had created.

There was a moment where everyone sat, stunned, before the baby's wailing snapped us out of it.

Skylar grabbed the shoelaces and scissors, and tied and cut the cord.

"Is it a boy or girl? What is it?!"

He didn't answer right away, but instead wiped the baby off with one of the cleaner towels, and wrapped it in his hoodie. It was still crying as he held it out and said "I guess you get your wish."

I cradled the baby in my arms and it quieted immediately. I lifted part of the hoodie and saw that it was indeed a boy.

"Derek! It's a boy!" I looked up over my shoulder and saw that there were tears in Derek's eyes. "Oh Derek...He's so beautiful, isn't he?"

Though he was still a bit messy and had that fussy look from crying, he was perfect. His skin was slightly tan like Derek's, maybe a shade or two lighter, but his hair was extremely fine and very, very light. Most likely, it would end up looking like mine.

And when he opened his eyes, they were a bright, brilliant green just like his father's.

"Oh my god..." Skylar leaned in to see and a wide smile spread across his face. "He does look like you."

Derek didn't say anything, only smiled down at the new life we had just brought into the world. He brought his hand around and touched the baby's face lightly, and he took Derek's finger in his tiny fist.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Is she in here? Is she awake?"

"Shhh! She'll hear you!"

"Don't talk about hearing me, at least I'm whispering!" I laughed as I heard Stiles and Scott arguing just outside my hospital room door.

I looked to my right and, in the soft chair beside my hospital bed, Derek sat. The blanket-wrapped bundle that was our baby was being cradled in his muscled arms, and he was whispering quietly to it.

"You know they want to come in." He looked up from our beautiful son, his green eyes locking with mine. They were filled with worry. "I worry about him too...But we'll have to show him to the world eventually."

"Just...I don't want them to hold him...Or touch him." I chuckled a bit and held out my arms. Derek stood and lowered the baby into my arms, who immediately took hold of the hospital gown I wore. He leaned down and kissed my forehead and the baby's before going over to the door.

Derek opened it slowly, and I could see Scott's and Stiles' faces from where I laid. I could also see the faces of Rachel, Kay, Allison, and a number of others behind them.

They started filing in and I said "Oh my god..." Once the room was about as filled as it could get, and I saw that there were more people still, Derek slowly shut the door.

I laughed when I saw that several people, Scott and Stiles the first of them, held gifts in their hands, wrapped in a variety of bright, pastel colors.

"Guys! You didn't have to do all this!"

Stiles piped up and said "'Course we did...Woulda got mauled by this one otherwise." He nodded towards Derek and everyone laughed, but I wondered if Derek had said something to him. Probably.

Allison came up to my side with Scott, and they both handed brightly wrapped boxes to Derek, and came over to me.

Allison leaned in and said "He's so cute...Can I hold him?"

I glanced up at Derek, whose face remained stoic.

I whispered "Allison...you remember what he is, right?" She nodded. "Okay...Just be extra careful with him."

"I will." Beside me, I saw how Derek tensed as I handed the baby to Allison. She cradled him close to her face and said "You're so cute, little baby...Ian, did you guys give him a name yet?"

"I have an idea...but we haven't made it official yet. I was thinking of Derek Ian."

Behind Scott and Allison, Stiles piped up again with "Just what the world needs. Another Derek Hale." Everyone in the room laughed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**(Derek's PointOfView)**

I watched as Ian's eyelids lowered and she dozed off, our son already asleep in her arms.

I waited a few minutes to be sure she was asleep and approached the bed, and slowly lifted our son out of her arms. I carried him with me to the bassinet the hospital had given us to use, and tried to lay him down in it. His tiny hands held onto me, though, and he refused to let go.

I sighed and took him to the chair beside Ian's bed sitting with him in my arms.

I studied the little boy that was part me, part Ian. He looked like me, that was plain enough. His hair though, was a very bright color, and would turn out like Ian's, or close to it.

As I was looking him over, he woke up, opening his bright green eyes that were the exact copies of my own.

"Derek Ian Hale...I don't know what your mommy was thinking...That idiot Stiles was right...The world doesn't need another me. You're gonna grow up nice and strong, but you're gonna turn out like your mom. You're not going to turn out a failure like I did."

Why was I talking to my baby? It's not as if he could actually understand me.

But, as if I _had_ said something he understood, little Derek grabbed a fistful of my T-shirt and held it, looking up at me with the unreadable eyes of a baby.

"Things turned out great, almost perfect, with your mom, but I wish I could give her better...We're living in her best friend's house, barely getting by without help, and that's not how it should be. Your mom is the best woman I've ever known, and I love her...and she deserves better than what she has. You watch, starting now, I'm gonna give your mom everything...I'm gonna buy her her own car, we'll get our own house, we'll even bring that hyperactive dog of hers with us for you to play with..."

The baby blinked and nestled his face into my chest, and appeared to go back to sleep. I sighed and pulled his little blanket tighter around him.

"You know..." My head shot up to see Ian looking tiredly at me. "I'm not sure our son can comprehend your grand plan just yet."

"Well, his mommy can, who was _supposed_ to be sleeping." Ian chuckled a bit, and I smiled. "I was serious, though. I'm...going to get my house fixed up, or we're going to buy a new one, and then it'll just be me, you, and little Derek...And maybe the dog." She chuckled again.

"Sounds fantastic to me. And nice nickname, by the way. It suits him."

"Yeah...I just hope he doesn't get the behavior along with the name." Ian raised an eyebrow and I said "You've obviously noticed I'm not the nicest of people..."

"Yes...but that's just because of the horrible things you've been through. We're gonna raise our son right, and protect him from anyone that tries to hurt him."

"Woman...you have no idea how much I wish we were alone in this room."

Ian smiled and said "That'll have to wait until we're all settled in at home again...By the way Derek, you look amazing sitting there, holding our son like that. Father of the year material, I tell you."

I waved it off. "No...You deserve a reward, more than anyone. Who else could've delivered a baby like that on the floor of a pizza shop, without anyone to help?"

"Who else would've ran through the rain and lightning to come find me? You could've died out there, but you still came..."

With all the sincerity I could muster, I said "I love you too dâmned much, that's why."

Her smile widened and she said "I love you too Derek." A whimper escaped little Derek's lips and he pressed his face tighter against me, fists balled up beside his cheeks. "And I love you too, little Derek."

We both chuckled as we watched our amazing son sleep in my arms.


	15. Derek Ian Hale

**(Derek's PointOfView)**

I held little Derek in my arms as Ian lifted herself out of my

car, her face showing how much her body still hurt from delivering our baby, even after 3 days.

She lifted the diaper bag someone had given us, heavy with baby supplies, out of the car and slung it over her shoulder, and shut the door. I motioned to give her little Derek but she shook her head, smiling.

"I like to see you hold him. Makes me think of how great a father you'll be."

"For holding my own son?" She raised an eyebrow.

"A lot of fathers don't like to hold their babies, whether out of fear or disgust or any number of reasons. But you actually _like_ to hold little Derek. And it looks like he likes to be held by you."

I looked down and saw little Derek clutching at my shirt, as he always did when I held him.

"He's my son. _Our_ son. I'll hold him until he either decides he likes mommy better or gets big enough to walk around on his own." Ian smiled again as she bent her head to kiss little Derek on the forehead, then to kiss me. "You know...we still haven't had our alone time..."

"We will, eventually. Except everyone is waiting for us inside, probably wanting to surprise us." I used my heightened wolf hearing and could hear at least a dozen people's breathing inside Ian's house.

I raised an eyebrow and said "How did you hear that before I did?"

She shrugged. "Guess I'm getting stronger. Just wait until this pain from giving birth goes away...I'll be better than I was before."

"Can't wait to test that theory out." She chuckled and handed me the diaper bag, which I put over my shoulder.

"Hold on, I'll get more of the stuff out of the trunk." She took my keys and went to the back of the Camaro.

After opening it and retrieving two more bags, Ian shut it and slipped my keys into her pocket. She then came to my side and we walked up to the house together, and she stopped in front of the door.

"Ready you ears, Derek."

"Oh, I can hear them preparing...Of course, you could always hold the baby while I sneak in a window and surprise all of them."

"That's just mean." I laughed, and she did too. "But, I knew you were mean when I signed on. I suppose there's no changing that now."

Ian reached for the doorknob and twisted it open, and as the door swung back on it's hinges, a loud chorus of **"Congratulations!"** was shouted out at us.

My ears rung after the initial shout, and I followed Ian slowly into the house. The bags were taken from us by her friends, Kay and Rachel, and the rest of the party began to swarm around. Most of them, women, were speaking to Ian or cooing over the baby.

Ian reached for little Derek and I handed him over, and she muttered "I'll lead the women away...Go grab a beer or something."

"An invite for a beer? And I thought you were an amazing woman before." Ian smiled as she followed the group of women into the sitting room. I followed the sounds of clinking glasses and low voices out to the kitchen.

There I sound several guys passing around a six pack of beer. I knew all of them.

Sheriff Stalinski, Chris Argent, and Scott and Stiles. There was one face that was vaguely familiar, but I soon recognized it as that of Skylar, the one that had helped us the other night in the pizza shop.

Chris Argent came up to me first, a wide smile on his face.

My instincts told me not to trust him, because he was a hunter, but his behavior suggested he meant no harm. I'd still keep an eye on him though.

"Derek, congratulations." He held out a hand and I shook it. "Heard the new baby looks just like you."

"That's what they tell me."

"I'll have to go see then, after the ladies have had all their excitement done and over with. Beer?"

"Sure." Sheriff Stalinski tossed one over from his place against the kitchen counter, which I caught easily. "Didn't expect you here, Argent."

"Allison wanted to come, so she dragged Victoria and I along...And Scott."

I eyed Scott, who was looking away and talking to Stiles, but who I knew was listening to my conversation.

"Dragged...Sure. Are you positive that it wasn't so you could check up on me since we came back?" He smirked.

"Well, I did get a bit of news from our family members up near Westwood...Seems you and your pack left quite a mess back there. Tore apart dâmn near that entire pack, except Ian's family, of course."

"Yet there's nothing you can do about that. Your laws only allow you to interfere if we harm humans. None of them were human. We originally only wanted their Alpha, but the rest interfered."

"Hmm...And how, exactly, did you beat them? There were a dozen wolves up there."

I shrugged and said "We got Ian's family to switch sides, after we told them about how their Alpha killed her parents."

"Ah." Chris Argent's eyes narrowed. "And are you their Alpha now?" When I didn't say anything, he chuckled. "Ian. We knew she was a wolf, but we had no idea she was another Alpha...How is it the two of you have a relationship? Isn't there any...domination issues."

I flashed my red eyes and, resisting the urge to tear his throat out, said "You listen to me, Argent. If you have any ideas about going after _my wife_ over what happened in Westwood or anywhere else, I'll have your head. Human or no human."

His face became solemn and he backed away, towards Sheriff Stalinski.

The next one to come forward was Skylar, the young one that had delivered little Derek.

He came forward with a quizzical look and said "What was that about?"

I shook my head. "Nothing...Just some old issues. I don't believe we were properly introduced the other day."

"Oh, right. Skylar, pizza shop manager, and now midwife extraordinaire."

"Derek Hale..." We shook hands briefly. "You went to this high school a couple years back, didn't you?"

"Yeah...why?"

"During the time my family's house...was destroyed?" He nodded. "Thought I recognized you. Used to be on the lacrosse team, got injured right?"

"Yeah!" His face lit up. "Other guy hits me, I flip and break my dâmn leg...There goes my high school stardom. Only freshman to make the team, and I'm out 6 months later..."

"Yeah, well, broken bones heal, right?"

Skylar nodded. "Doesn't mean I can go back to playing, though. Where'd you disappear to after the fire?"

"New York...Only came back a few months ago. Got with Ian soon after."

We both turned and looked in the other room, where Ian was holding little Derek, and Scott's mom opening a present for her.

"You're a lucky guy, Hale...If she wasn't already engaged to you I probably would've went for it." I smiled, but my anger flared. "Mind if I ask what's up with her?"

"What do you mean?"

He chuckled and lowered his voice. "Come on, she broke a damn table just by pushing against it. Now I know women use a lot of strength when they deliver a baby, but that...That was just weird. And you sat there and didn't even blink."

I'd actually had a few broken ribs afterward, not that I was going to tell him that. They'd healed before anyone had noticed anyway.

"There is something not normal about that chick."

I put a hand to his shoulder and said "Don't worry about things you probably shouldn't be worrying about. Ian's fine, the baby's fine, and that's all I care about. And all you should care about."

I released him and walked past the group of women in the sitting room, noting how most of their eyes followed me, and out the front door.

I sat on the steps of the house and looked out at the trees and damp ground. It had been drizzling earlier in the day, and the water droplets were dripping down from the leaves of the trees to soak the ground beneath them.

In the wet dirt and gravel were pressed the footprints of everyone inside, and they would remain there until the next rain came and washed them all away. Hopefully it wouldn't be a rain like the Friday night storm, when little Derek had been born.

Bad things always happened during the big storms.

"Derek."

"Sheriff Stalinski. Decide to come sit out with a former prisoner?"

"'Former' being the operative word. I've come to tell you some things." He slid down beside me, and I didn't miss the fact that the beer in his hand was almost empty. "No, you're not the suspect in any crime, and I'm not telling you how to take care of your new family...Though you'd better take care of them."

"I will. I'm not losing any more of my family."

"Good...Good. Anyway, back to the news. I've only decided to tell you because of how similar this is to what happened before..." My senses perked up and i looked at him.

"Similar to what?"

"The murders. Including your sister." I froze. "While you were gone in Westwood, there were some torn-up deer found out in the woods. We figured it was just another animal...Until a deer head was found here in town. Since then, they've been cropping up everywhere...except they aren't deer parts anymore."

I groaned. "They're human parts." The Sheriff nodded.

"Someone dismembered a local boy and scattered his parts around the city...Only in certain locations though. By the hospital, the school, out in the residential areas...and some in the woods by your family's old home."

I grabbed him by the shirt and growled **"Why?"**

"We don't know!" I slowly released him and grasped my hands together. "We know it wasn't you because you were gone when they started, and have been staying with since you got back. I felt the need to tell you because they were found around your family's old property, and..."

"And _what?"_

"We got a call from Westwood. Their police department found body parts as well. We believe someone may be targeting Ian." My eyes widened. "She still has family there, correct?"

I nodded. "We stayed with them while we were there, at her parent's old house...They're coming down in the next couple of days, though, to see the baby."

"I suggest you invite them to stay awhile. If someone is targeting Ian or her family, it's best to gather together. We've been able to keep everything quiet and out of the news, but for how much longer, I can't say..."

I listened to the ruckus behind us and guessed Ian couldn't hear the conversation between me and the Sheriff. Good.

"Sheriff, I'd appreciate it if you didn't say anything to Ian about this...I will have a discussion with her family when they get here, and we'll decide what to do. Ian just gave birth, and I don't want her stressing over something so soon...She still hasn't recovered from the birth."

He nodded.

"Just...don't let her out at night. So far, only one person has died here, and I'd prefer to keep it that way. Lock the doors and windows, don't go to unfamiliar places or talk to unfamiliar people...That sort of thing. We don't need this turning into another massacre..."

"I know, Sheriff...And it won't. I can protect myself and my family, and I suggest you do the same to yours."

I stood and turned, headed back into the house. My footsteps were slow, heavy with the weight of what the sheriff had told me.

Someone had been dismembered and their body parts scattered around town. The hospital, the school, where people lived...All places Ian had been lately. And where she'd been in Westwood, too.

It'd been animals at first, then after we got back, a boy had been killed...

As I was walking out to the kitchen, I froze again.

It wasn't after we'd gotten back from Westwood. It was after little _Derek_ was born...

I sped into the kitchen and took Scott by the arm, and muttered in his ear "We need to talk. Now."

Chris Argent looked after us as I dragged Scott out of the back door of the house, and away from all the noise.

When we were a safe distance away, he pulled his arm from my grip and shouted "What the hêll was that for?!"

"Someone got killed on Friday, after my son was born."

"What?"

"You heard me. Your idiot best friend's dad just told me. Someone killed a bunch of deer and scattered their parts around town while we were in Westwood. After my son was born, a boy was killed and his parts scattered everywhere we'd been."

"What do you mean?"

I gripped him by the shirt and yelled. "The school, downtown, the hospital, my freaking house. Everywhere Ian had been in the last month, someone scattered some innocent boy's body there. It happened in Westwood too."

"What?! Who the hêll would do that?!"

"I don't know! Someone who wants to get a message to Ian, obviously!"

"Does she know?" I shook my head. "You have to tell her!"

"She just gave birth! Or did you forget that?! We have to figure out what the hêll is doing this before we even _consider_ telling her anything."

"Yeah, you're probably right...But how do we find out who did it? Or what did it."

"I have no idea..."


	16. Keeping Secrets

**(Derek's PointOfView)**

I snatched the police file from Stiles' skinny hand and he flinched back.

"Be careful with that...I have to have it back in an hour."

I opened the file and flipped through, barely flinching at the pictures of bloody, dismembered body parts, to the location sheet.

I skimmed it and said "It was just where your drunk of a dad said...Body parts were found outside the front entrances of the school, the hospital, my family's house, even the pizza shop where Ian gave birth..." Behind it was a similar sheet from the Westwood P.D. "And in Westwood, they were found outside Ian's parent's house, that bar where we killed Jakob, even the jewelry store..."

Scott looked at me oddly and said "The jewelry store?"

"I bought Ian her ring while we were in Westwood...Guess whoever this is isn't just targeting Ian..."

Stiles butted in and said "Why would they be after you though? Guaranteed, you are a dîck..." I raised an eyebrow and he shrugged. "But all you've done lately is try to help us."

I threw the file down on the dining room table of Ian's house and watched as the pictures within scattered across it. Scott and Stiles looked away from the mangled images, like they'd done when Ian showed them pictures of her parent's accident.

Scott asked "When are her cousins supposed to get here?"

"Her and her two friends went to get them half an hour ago...They'll be back shortly..."

"How long are they staying?"

I shrugged. "I told them I was worried about Ian, and that they should prepare for a long stay...And that I'd tell them what's going on when they get here."

I heard a small whimper from upstairs and knew little Derek was waking up. _Please wait a few more minutes...This is important..._

The whimpering stopped and I let out a breath.

"Ian's three cousins are gonna stay here...I'll tell them everything that's happened, maybe get the two younger ones set up at school so they can watch you there."

"Danny and Tyler?" I nodded. "What about Ryan?"

"What about him?" I eyed Scott carefully.

"What'll you tell people about him?"

"We don't have to lie. This time. If people in town know that Ian's family is here, that means whoever is after her will hear about it eventually, and maybe back off. Remember, we have two Alphas, and we'll have four betas...One person will be just stupid to come after us."

"We were stupid enough to go after all of Jakob's pack."

There was another whimper from upstairs, this one louder, and I knew I couldn't ignore it this time.

"They had one Alpha, and we stole three of his pack members. Whoever is doing this will **not** be taking any of our betas. Excuse me, I have to go get my _son."_

Scott and Stiles stared as I stood from the table and made my way upstairs. In a corner of Ian and I's bedroom sat a white crib, a small white dresser filled with tiny clothes, and a small chest of baby toys.

Inside the crib, laying on a soft, fuzzy blanket was little Derek, the paleness of the blankets and his skin making his eyes stand out. He had that fussy/about-to-cry look on his face, so I reached down and picked him up. I cradled him in my arms and he grabbed onto my shirt as he always did, and the fussy-look disappeared.

I grabbed his bottle and slowly made my way back down the stairs, and saw that Scott and Stiles were still in their same positions at the dining room table.

"Are you two going to sit there forever, or get the hêll outta my house? I don't want anyone here until Ian gets back."

"Why not?"

I growled back "Need me to spell it out for you, McCall? I have a B-A-B-Y. Now, do you know what that spells, or do I need to pull out a dictionary?"

"Fine, fine, we're going..." I watched him and Stiles as they walked out of the house, shutting the door loudly behind them.

I looked down and saw little Derek staring up at me, his bright green eyes unblinking.

"Those two can be idiots, can't they? Sometimes I wish I could just rip their throats out...But your mommy made me promise I wouldn't." Little Derek smiled up at me, a bit of drool dripping down his chin. I wiped it up with my shirt and said "Don't grow up too fast, now...We only had a couple months of you in your mommy's belly, and I'd like more than a few years with you outside of it."

_I love you too, Daddy._

I froze, and my arms tightened instinctually around little Derek. I looked around and saw nobody else, and with my hearing, I knew nobody was even near the house. I looked down at little Derek's smiling face and stared.

I slid my hands under his arms and held him up in front of my face and examined him. Against all reasoning, I asked him "Did you just say something?"

When he said nothing, of course, I shook my head, feeling like an idiot. What the hêll was I doing? My baby couldn't talk to me!

I had to've imagined it. I was alone, stressing about this new murder, and everything was just getting to me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**(Ian's PointOfView)**

"Danny!" I threw my arms open and hugged my cousin tightly. "You're all recovered now?"

"Yeah!" He let me go and lifted his shirt to reveal his completely healed ribcage, not without a scar. "Even though I'm a wolf, there's a scar, but that's probably just because it was another wolf that did it."

"I know that's what it was...I may not have been involved in wolf business that long, but I'm not an idiot." Danny chuckled and I turned to Tyler. "Do I get a hug from you too?"

"Maybe." I eyed Tyler and he laughed, then came over for a hug too. "Thanks for calling that woman up to help my brother...I don't know what I would've done if he died..."

I patted Tyler on the back and said "He's my family too, Tyler. I love him just as much as you do."

"Yeah, but you have to share your love with me, too." I looked over at Ryan, who had spoken. "Don't forget about me, lil' cuz."

"Little? I am engaged to a Hale and have a beautiful son with him. I'm not so little anymore."

"Yeah, but you'll always be little to me. Don't forget, I helped raise you."

"For that, I shouldn't even give you a hug..."

"Yeah, but you will anyway." I smiled and went to Ryan and wrapped my arms around his back. "Told you."

I squeezed him extra hard and he yelped.

"Don't forget, I'm stronger than you now, and I'm your Alpha."

He pulled back and raised his eyebrow, saying "You wouldn't use that against me, would you?"

I shrugged and laughed. Each of my cousins picked up their things, having taken a bus in from Westwood, and we began to make our way across the parking lot. I'd driven to the bus station in Derek's Camaro, hoping there would be enough room for my cousins and all of their stuff.

There ended up being just enough room, having put one of the bags between Danny and Tyler in the backseat.

Once everything was packed in, I said "Okay, it's about a 15 minute drive, because my house is all the way across town...Rachel is at work and Kay is in town, so it's just Derek and the baby right now."

Ryan said "We got a little something for the baby, you know...You can open when we get back to the house."

"Well, in that case, I can drive a little faster...10 minutes, then." Ryan groaned and I just laughed again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I pulled up in front of the house, I saw Derek coming out, holding our baby in his arms. A wide smile spread across my face.

My cousins and I got out of his Camaro, and I helped them get their bags out of the trunk and backseat.

When we walked up onto the porch, I stopped in front of Derek and said "You just couldn't let him sleep, could you?"

"He woke up fussy, so I picked him up. Is that such a crime?"

I chuckled and shook my head. "To make him stop crying, no. But if he was fussy because you had Scott and Stiles over, that's another story."

Derek's eyes widened perceptibly. "How...did you know?"

I inhaled deeply through my nose and said "I can smell them. They were here while I was gone...Only left a few minutes ago, maybe. I told you my senses got stronger."

"I didn't know they were _that_ much stronger...Anyway, there's something I need to talk with you about."

I saw Derek glance over at my cousins, who were marvelling at the house, but could obviously hear our conversation.

"How about later, then? After everyone is...settled down." Derek nodded, and I saw little Derek nestle in tighter in his arms. I smiled again. "You know, I don't think I've held our son even half as much as you have. He must really love you."

I saw Derek's face go oddly pale before he said "Yeah...He probably does..."

I put my hand against his face and said "Are you okay Derek? You don't look too good." He nodded unconvincingly.

"Just stress and stuff getting to me, I guess...I'm a wolf, remember? I can't get sick."

"Well, we've had a lot of weird things happen lately, and getting sick wouldn't be the weirdest. Here, I'm gonna go put my cousins in their rooms, and then I'm gonna start dinner. Kay and Rachel should be back in an hour or two, so it'll be done by then. Think you can handle little Derek for a little while?"

Derek grinned and said "I got this."

"Hey, that's my line." He shrugged and I pushed his shoulder lightly, and bent my head down to kiss little Derek on the head, as his face was pressed against Derek's shirt.

I stood up and led my cousins into the house, and they marvelled at the inside just as much as the outside.

Ryan said "Goddâmn Ian, how can you afford this place?"

"It's actually Rachel's. Her grandparents left it to her when they died. You remember." He nodded. "Derek and I share the biggest room with the baby, until he's big enough to have his own room." I went to the bottom of the staircase and started going up. "Come on."

Ryan, Danny, and Tyler hoisted their bags up and followed me up the stairs. I pointed out Derek and I's bedroom as we passed it, and turned to the east side of the house.

I'd prepared the first bedroom to the right of mine for Ryan.

As I opened the door, I said "This is your room, Ryan...I figured you'd like it best."

With the 35" flat screen TV, queen size bed, and an old game console, it was somewhere I knew he'd enjoy himself. Plus it had it's own bathroom.

"Only 3 of the seven bedrooms have their own bathrooms. Mine, this one, and Kay's. Rachel usually sleeps in here, but she moved her stuff to another room, so you could sleep in here. You can thank her when she gets home."

Ryan laughed. "I'll try to remember that." He kneeled down and inspected the game system. "A PS2? Really?"

"It was that or nothing. Forgive me if I don't keep up on current game systems. Danny, Tyler?" They looked at me. "Do you want your own rooms, or do you want to share?"

They looked at each other and said "We'll share."

"Then you can move the bed from that room..." I pointed to the room across the hall. "...into the room on the other side of mine."

They groaned and Danny said "I just recovered from a deadly injury. Give me a break."

"Exactly. You've **recovered.** Meaning that you're all better. And I have a child to take care of, so I can't do it myself." I heard little Derek fuss a bit from downstairs, and knew he must be hungry. "I assume you'll do it before you lay down for the night?"

"Fine..."

With a smile, I turned and left the room. As I made my way back down the stairs, my acute hearing picked up the sounds of Ryan stepping out of his new room and following me.

Without turning, I said "What is it, Ryan?"

When I turned at the bottom of the stairs, I saw that he was only at the top, staring down at me. "Should I even ask how you knew it was me?"

I shook my head. "What is it?"

"It's about why we came early...The hunters in Westwood told us..."

"Ryan." Both of our heads whipped around to see Derek standing in the doorway of the sitting room. "I told Ian I was going to talk to her. _You_ don't need to worry about it." Ryan looked extremely offended, before quickly recovering himself.

"Alright...It's probably best if you do it anyway...I'll just be out here then..."

Ryan went towards the back of the house and Derek made his way to me. I held my hands out and he handed little Derek over, not without a bit of a struggle to unclamp little Derek's hands from his shirt.

We went into the sitting room and, after quickly looking around, lifted my shirt to reveal my engorged breasts. They'd quickly swelled two cup sizes bigger than they'd been before I was pregnant, and now were ridiculously large.

Little Derek quickly latched on and began suckling, and I looked sternly up at Derek. He was staring down at little Derek, his brow furrowed, looking quite irritated.

"What was it that you were supposed to tell me? Something about Westwood?"

He sighed deeply. "It was actually something else...Something about little Derek."

I tightened my grip on him and said "What is it? Is something wrong?"

He shook his head, and I let out a breath. "I don't think so...I'm not sure...I don't honestly know. Something weird happened earlier while you were gone, after Scott and Stiles left." I raised my eyebrow. "You know they were here, there's no use trying to keep it from you. It was pack stuff."

"So what happened with little Derek?"

"You might think I'm just being paranoid, hêll, **I** just think I'm being paranoid..." I raised my left hand and put it over Derek's right, and he wove our fingers together, the corner of his mouth pulling up in a smile.

"Honestly, after having just gone through the supernatural pregnancy that we did, what could be weirder than that?"

"How about a psychic baby?" I raised an eyebrow and Derek sighed. "I was talking to myself, ranting about Scott and Stiles, and said something about how I loved the baby...And I know it sounds idiotic, but he _said something back to me._ In my head. I know I might sound stupid..."

"Derek Hale...You are the least stupid person I have ever met. And with the way you're fumbling, I can tell you're not lying." He gripped my hand tighter, looking relieved. "It also helps that he's said something to me before, too."

Derek's eyes widened and I chuckled a bit. "It was one of these days when you were gone and Rachel was at work...I was in here feeding little Derek and Kay was out in the kitchen. I was talking to him, about how much I loved him and his daddy...And he said 'I love you too mommy.'"

"That is exactly what I heard...Minus the mommy part, of course." I smiled a bit. "I've never heard of anyone being able to do something like this, and chances are that if our baby can, he probably isn't a wolf..."

"What is he then?" Derek shrugged and I became worried. "Well, who would know?"

"Nobody, maybe..." He groaned then, but it came out sounding like a growl. "The hunters...The hunters might know."

"Allison's family? How would they know?"

"People like them have been around as long as we have. They gather information on us and other species that...threaten humans. If anyone would know, it'd be them."

"Then invite them over." Derek looked at me like I'd gone insane.

"Why the hêll would I do that?! They can't be trusted!" I shrunk back a bit, wrapping my other arm around the baby, and Derek's face fell. "Ian, i'm sorry..."

I scowled up at him and said "I love you, more than anything, but I can't tolerate this...Or the way my cousins are listening to us right now." I heard a shuffle and someone cursing to themselves. "But I don't really care if they hear, because its actually better if they know the whole situation. I wish **I** knew the whole situation, though."

Derek looked puzzled for a second, before a voice echoed out to us "She means the bodies, you idiot." My eyes widened as Tyler's voice retreated, and Derek growled menacingly.

"What bodies?" Derek's eyes moved back to me and he stopped growling. "What bodies, Derek?"

He shook his head. "I don't want you to worry about anything else...Little Derek just came, we don't need other stuff to bother us..."

"It's obviously bothering you. Did someone else die?" Derek nodded and I tightened my grip on the baby. I looked down and noticed little Derek was done feeding, so I pulled my shirt back down and cuddled him to my chest. "Who?"

"We don't know...Some ripped apart some kid and scattered his parts around town...And in Westwood too."

"Why there?"

"Because...that's where we went. Specifically, that's where _you_ went. The sheriff actually told me that he thinks someone is after you...And that's what I think too."

I flew out of my seat and ran from the room, towards the back of the house. My cousins scrambled, but I went right for Ryan.

Baby in my left hand, I grabbed Ryan's shirt with my right and slammed him against the wall. Derek came up behind me and said "Ian, what are you doing?!"

"Hold little Derek. Hold him!" He took little Derek from my left arm, which I then used to push Ryan against the wall again. "What exactly happened after I left Westwood? Don't you lie to me, because I'll know if you do."

"Nothing, at first! But right before you called us that day when you had baby Derek, we got a 'visit' from the other hunters near Westwood. They found parts of someone scattered around town, and they thought we did it. But we explained what happened with Jakob, not all of it, and they called the hunters here. Once they got the real story, and found out there were murders here too, they let us go. I was gonna tell you once we got here, but Derek..."

Ryan looked over at Derek, who was staring at him intently.

I slowly released Ryan and he made his way to Derek, who never broke his gaze.

Ryan slowly said "You may be marrying my cousin and best friend, and you might be an alpha here, but that doesn't mean I won't kick your âss. Never, _never,_ keep things from Ian, no matter how bad they are."

"You think I want to keep things from her? I hate doing that! Believe it or not, I was actually keeping it from her for _her_ sake. My _wife_ just gave birth after dealing with all that _bullshît_ in Westwood, do you really think I'd want her to stress even more? I actually worry about her and our baby's health and safety."

"And I do too. But if you're keeping something from her, don't you think that she'll stress over what is it?"

"Better her stress over that than someone possibly trying to kill her."

"Will you two stop it!" Derek and Ryan turned to look at me.

I went to Derek and took our baby from his arms, and pulled Derek's phone from his pocket. A small voice in the back of my head said _Where are we going?_ and I knew it was little Derek speaking to me.

Big Derek said "What are you doing?"

"I'm leaving for a while." I quickly dialed Stiles' number as I hurried through the house. "I can't be here if you're going to be arguing like this..."

Stiles answered after the second ring. "Derek?"

"Ian. I need you to come pick up me and my son. Now." As I passed the sitting room, I gripped little Derek's diaper bag.

"Why? Did something happen?"

"Derek and my cousin Ryan are arguing and I just can't take it...Is there somewhere we can go? Where are you now?"

"With Scott, at that guy Skylar's place. He showed us some stuff from when he played lacrosse, it's pretty awesome..."

"Stiles." He quieted. "I don't care where you are, I just care where me and my baby can go, at least for today."

"Maybe...My dad's at home, he'll probably let you stay a few hours. Just...give me a minute to call him and ask."

"Thank you Stiles, really."

"Just...make sure your _fiancé_ isn't outside when I get there."

I chuckled a bit and said "Alright, alright. Just get here."


	17. Message

I heard the sound of a car coming up to Stiles' house and stood up, and he looked at me oddly.

"What? Did you hear something?"

"Yeah, a car. Wait here..."

I stood up and started toward the front door, and heard him blubber "But..the baby...Ugh..." I chuckled silently to myself.

I could see before I opened it that it was Derek, a forlorn look on his face. I tried to hide the fact that I felt about as bad as he looked, but I didn't know how well it was working.

I opened it and he sighed a relieved-sounding "Ian..."

"Yes?"

"How long are you gonna stay here? Please...come home. I can't stay away from you or the baby..."

I bit my lip and hesitated. "Derek...I don't want to stay away either, and I don't want to keep our son from you, but I don't want to have little Derek around that either. I told you when we first got together that I never wanted you to change, and I don't, but please, _please_ **don't** do something like that in front of the baby. Hêll, take it outside or in a different part of the house, I don't care, just...not in front of the baby..."

He nodded, and I continued.

"Despite where he came from, I don't want our son to end up like us...An orphan before he's ready, a temper that flares up at all times, doing things we regret, constantly living in a world of danger...I want our son to be raised in a safe, loving home. And whether he turns out to be a human, wolf, or something else entirely, I just want to _be there_ for him. Do you get that?"

"I do, I do, and I want to be there for him and for you. And that's why I want to find _whoever_ or _whatever_ has decided to target you, and kill it. Whether it's a human, one of us, or something else. I will hunt down anything that wants to hurt either of you, just so the world can be a little safer for you, and him."

I heard little Derek whine a bit in the kitchen, and Stiles hurriedly pick him up and try to calm him.

"I think...we should start with little Derek. If we figure out what he is, that might lead us to whoever killed that boy...And maybe we'll find out some other answers along the way." I heard Stiles whispering to the baby, but he sounded terrified, and I knew little Derek must've used his special 'talent' to 'talk' to Stiles. "Like why our week-old son can speak to us through our thoughts, or why that pregnancy lasted half of what a normal one would. Or why he's growing normally now that he's out."

Derek nodded. "So does that mean...you'll come back home?"

I nodded with a smile. Derek stepped up to me but I held up my hand and said "How about we get home first? I can hear Stiles struggling with the baby."

"How about you get your stuff, and I get little Me?"

I raised an eyebrow and said "What happened to not letting him end up like us?"

"Situation wise, yes...I'm just saying don't blame me if he ends up acting like me."

"Oh, I'll totally blame you." Derek tried to grab me around the waist, but I dashed out of his way, laughing. "Come on, I thought you were faster than that."

"Oh, you wanna see fast?" Derek moved towards me, almost a blur, and took my wrists and pinned me against the side of Stiles' house. He skimmed his nose up my neck and brought his stubbly chin beside my ear and whispered "So you were saying..?"

Not without a grin, I whispered back "I was saying how I missed the old you...The one that wasn't afraid to hold me like this even in public..."

I felt his lips on my neck and I shuddered slightly, my knees becoming weak.

I could feel his smile against my skin as he said "Well...the old me wants to make an appearance, I think..."

I was about to respond, when I heard the sound of Stiles walking through his house, most likely to come see what I was doing.

"Dâmn...Stiles is coming..." I fidgeted, but Derek didn't relinquish his grip.

"Relax, it's not as if he hasn't seen worse..."

The door opened and he stood there, holding little Derek, staring at the two of us. He cleared his throat, but Derek didn't move, and I felt my face go red.

"If the two of you are done...I think your son wants you." Derek finally released my wrists and went over to him, and took the baby out of his arms. "Here." I took the baby's bag.

"Don't be such a wimp, Stiles, it's just a baby."

"I'm more worried about you trying to tear my throat out if something happens...Like you're always 'threatening' to do." Stiles said it in a mocking tone, and Derek glared until he went back in the house.

"You've got to stop doing that to him. He's going to need therapy." Derek shrugged and I laughed. "Well, come on, we need to get home..."

"Oh yes, we do...And we need to get upstairs, and in our bedroom, and..." I put my finger to his lips and he silenced, but not without a crooked smile.

"Not in front of the baby...Do you want to set a bad example?"

"And wanting to make ravenous love to my wife is bad?"

"Hey, it's _fianceé._ It'll be _wife_ when we finally set a date and have a ceremony."

"Vegas is only 9 hours away. We could leave little Derek with your two friends, drive down to Vegas, have a little drive-thru wedding, and spend a weekend honeymoon down there by ourselves...Sound appealing?"

I chuckled as I put the diaper bag in the Camaro. "It does, but I think I'd like a _real_ wedding. You know, one where other people can be there and watch, and I can have a wedding dress, and you can wear a tuxedo." I got a mental image of Derek in a tuxedo and grinned. "Are you telling me you wouldn't want Scott as your best man?"

He made a face. "I'd rather have your âsshole of a cousin as best man."

"Oh, Ryan isn't _that_ bad..."

"Wait'll we get home...then you'll see." I suddenly became very worried.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I pushed open the front door and entered the house, and saw that all of the lights were off. I laid little Derek in his bassinet in the TV room and turned on a lamp, and turned to see Derek just coming in the front door with the diaper bag.

"Did my cousins go somewhere?"

He shrugged. "They were here when I left."

"Was Kay here?" He nodded. "Maybe they're in back, I'll go check..."

I made my way to the back of the house and looked out the back door, and saw they weren't on the back porch. I listened in and knew they weren't upstairs either.

"Where the hêll..." I heard a gurgling noise come from somewhere below my feet, from the basement. I stepped toward the basement door and flicked the light on before I opened it, and saw nothing at the bottom of the stairs.

I slowly made my way down the stairs, following the strange noise. I'd never been in the basement, and gasped a bit at how big it was. Toward the other end, where the front of the house was, was a door to another room.

I went to it and opened it, and screamed.

"Derek! **Derek!"** I heard a noise upstairs and he came rushing down, with the baby in his arms.

He called out "Where are you?!"

"In this room, come quick!" He ran in and skidded to a stop, a horrified expression on his face.

I was reduced to tears as I stared down at the motionless bodies of Ryan, Danny, and Tyler, all laid out on the dirty basement floor, spattered with blood. Their bodies were laid out in odd ways, and I knew at least some of their bones had to've been broken.

"Why..? **WHY!?"**

"Ian..." He kneeled down with the baby in one arm and put the other around me. "Ian."

"Let go of me..." He removed his arms without a word and I feel to my knees, tears running all down my face. I put my hand to Danny's face and heard the gurgling noise again, and realized that was him trying to breathe. "Oh my god! He's alive!" I went to Tyler and felt his chest and could feel his faint heartbeat, and his own pained breathing. "Tyler too!" But when I went to Ryan, his heartbeat was even fainter, and he was barely breathing. "Ryan!"

I put my hand to his face and his own hand shot up to take hold of my wrist, and I nearly screamed again. I looked in his face and saw his bloodshot eyes staring back at me, filled with agony.

I leaned in as he tried forcing out words between painful breaths, and said "Don't try to talk, please...You're hurt really bad..."

He took hold of my shirt, with a stronger grip than I thought he was capable of, and pulled my face down to his.

Then, in a voice so low I wasn't even sure Derek could hear it, he muttered "They...got...Kay..." He raised a shaky finger and pointed towards the corner of the room. "Bit...neck..."

His hands fell limp, and his ragged breathing stilled.

"Ryan?!" I shook him vigorously, but he didn't move. "Ryan!" I shook him again and felt Derek's hand on me, but shook it off. "Ryan!"

"Ian..." I didn't respond and I felt Derek's hand grab the back of me shirt, and he yanked me to my feet. I turned with a glare as he said "Take the baby, I'll call someone to help Danny and Tyler..."

"But...what about Ryan? We can't just..." My knees shook and I nearly fell.

"We'll take care of him, here..." Derek held out the baby but I didn't take him, instead staring at the far corner of the room where Ryan had pointed. "What is it?"

"Ryan, he said...Kay got hurt...bit..." The image of a wolf flashed through my mind and I shook my head. _"No."_

I scurried over to by the corner and could now see someone balled up, laying on the dirty floor. I touched her and she shivered and gasped, and I knew immediately it was Kay.

"Kay, it's Ian..."

"It...Him...Oh _god,_ Ian..." She turned up her face to look at me and I saw it was covered with dirt and blood. By the smell, I knew it was hers. "There was nothing we could do...He just..."

"What happened?"

Kay pushed herself up into a sitting position, her long, bloody hair covering her neck and chest. I saw there was blood running down her torso, but she seemed not to notice.

"Someone, something, came into the house while you were gone...He was looking for you, I think. Ryan and your cousins tried to help, but..." A sob escaped her lips. "He killed them so easily, and...and..."

Kay buried her head in her hands and cried. I put my hand on her shoulder and she flinched back.

"Kay..?" She reached up slowly, her hands trembling severely, and pulled her hair away from her neck, and I cursed to myself. _"Shît..."_ She was bitten.

Kay was bitten. By a wolf. One of my kind.

I looked up at Derek, who had witnessed it, and his face was full of anger. "What are we gonna do Derek? Kay's either gonna be one of us, or..."

I buried my own head in my hands and he said "We have a few days to worry about that...We need to worry about your cousins now..." I nodded, still not raising my face. "I'll call Scott, you take care of Danny and Tyler...Or do you want me to do it?"

"No, I can do it..." I stood and brushed the dirt off my pants, and helped Kay to her feet. "Why don't you go upstairs, get cleaned up?"

Kay nodded and headed up the stairs, and Derek followed after her.

I went back to where my three cousins lay, tears starting up again. I picked Danny up first, taking him in my arms and slowly carrying his broken form up the stairs. I went past Derek and Kay in the kitchen and out to the sitting room, and laid him on the floor. Dirt and blood dripped to the carpet but I did t care.

I kneeled down and felt Danny's ribcage, and saw that several of his ribs were re-broken, and he had deep cuts everywhere. He wasn't healing yet, though.

"Danny." His eyes opened, but couldn't seem to focus on me. "Can you hear me?"

I thought he couldn't, but after a moment his head moved slightly up and down. A nod.

"You're cuts aren't healing yet, so I gotta do something to make them start healing...It's gonna hurt. A lot."

He nodded again, and I put my hands to his arm and snapped his forearm.

A loud, gurgling scream came out of his mouth and I looked away, keeping my hands on his arm. Derek ran in, still holding the baby.

"What was that?"

"He wasn't healing...His ribs are broken again and he's cut everywhere, I had to do something..."

"I know...But look." I looked through the tatters of Danny's shirt and saw that his cuts were already starting to heal. "He'll be alright, probably...Are you going to get Tyler?"

"Stay with Danny, please..."

I stood up and without looking back, went to the basement again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ian?"

"Come in Scott." The front door opened and Scott and several others entered the house. Stiles, Scott's mom, a man I vaguely recognized, and Skylar. I turned to the vague man and said "Who're you?"

"You came into my office and adopted two dogs." It popped into my head then that he was the vet. , I think his name was.

"Why did Scott bring you?"

"I've...worked with people like your cousins before." I nodded slowly and looked at Melissa.

"I'm...surprised you came."

"I don't exactly like what you and my son are, but...he said you really needed my help. Your cousin again?" I nodded.

I led them from the hall into the sitting room, where Danny and Tyler were still laying on the floor. Danny was almost completely healed, so he wasn't the one I was worried about.

"Danny is fine now, but Tyler...I think his leg is broken." Melissa and the vet went to examine Tyler, and I looked at Skylar. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"What, not excited to see a friendly face?" When I didn't laugh, his smile disappeared. "Okay, wrong time...I tagged along, to see if there was anything I could do to help."

"Unless you're familiar with how my family is, I severely doubt it."

I turned to go into the kitchen, and he said "Your family or your pack?" I spun to face him, and so did almost everyone in the room. "I put two-and-two together after you gave birth."

"How do you know about us?"

"Oh, I've known about wolves for years. Almost got bit back in high school, been learning about them ever since." I could hear his heart beating evenly, and knew he wasn't lying. "What happened here anyway?"

"Don't know. Came home and found them in the basement all beat up like this." A scream came out of Tyler's mouth as Melissa and straightened his broken leg, and I shuddered. "And...they weren't the only ones hurt."

Ryan's body was still in it's same place in the basement, where it would stay until dark, when we could...dispose of it.

I walked out of the room into the kitchen, where Rachel was holding little Derek. We'd called her right after Scott, but she'd gotten here first. And had taken the news of Ryan and Kay almost as badly as I had.

"Hey." She turned, and I saw that her eyes were red-rimmed. "You don't look so good."

"Have you seen you?" We both chuckled. "Where's Kay?"

"Upstairs in her room...Her bite is already starting to heal..." Rachel bowed her head.

"That means...she _is_ going to be one of you...Right?" I nodded. "This...isn't how things were supposed to be...We moved up here to get away from all the drama and death, and now we just have even more..."

"I know, Rach, and I don't like it very much either...And what I really don't like is that someone is after me and my baby, and I don't even know why." When I said that, Rachel held out her arms and I took little Derek. "I can't raise him in a place this...chaotic."

"Have you thought about giving him up?" I looked at her questioningly. "I mean, if you give him up for adoption, he'll go to some family far away from here that can keep him safe and raise him normally."

I shook my head. "Except he isn't normal. He can talk through his thoughts and will probably end up being a wolf like me and Derek, so he _can't_ be raised normal...He can just be raised the best way we can."

She nodded. "I'm gonna go check on Kay, if it's alright..."

I nodded as she left the kitchen. I leaned against one of the counters and looked down at little Derek, and his bright green eyes stared right back up at me. His tousle of white hair had grown a bit, and now was sticking out every possible way.

I tucked my own shoulder-length white hair behind my ear and smoothed his out with my hand.

_Ian..._ I didn't flinch as I heard a mental voice in my mind whisper my name. I did become worried, though, since it wasn't my son's. _Ian..._

_Who is that?_

_Oh, just someone that's taken a bit if in interest in you and your son.'_

I growled as I realized who it was.

_You had absolutely NO right to hurt my cousins like that. You killed one of them! And bit my best friend!_ An ethereal chuckle resounded through my head and I growled again.

_Temper, temper...I only hurt them because they attacked me. Only after I announced what I was after, of course. And as for your friend...Think of her as a replacement wolf, for killing your cousin._

_Nobody can replace Ryan. He wasn't just my beta, he was my best friend. And what about the bodies in town, huh? Going to explain those?_

_That was an...initiation. Whenever one of our kind is born, a sacrifice is made. It's the only way to keep a balance._

_One of our kind? What the hêll does that mean? I'm a wolf, and so is my son._

_Yes, you're that, but you're also so much more...And you have yet to discover everything you and your son can do. I can help you discover those things._

_By killing me?_

_No, of course not. By having a meeting. You come to see me, and I'll give you all the answers you're looking for, and more. You can't bring your fiancé, or let him know who you are seeing._

_Deal. When and where?_

_Be outside of your house at midnight tomorrow. A car will be there to pick you up. And you'd better come, Ian, or your dear friend Kay won't live to see the next full moon._

I felt the mental connection sever, and the stranger's voice disappeared from my mind. I looked down at little Derek and saw him staring up at me.

"Did you hear any of that, baby?"

_Yes..._

"Don't tell Daddy. Mommy has to go figure out why all these people are dying again..."


	18. Shapeshifter

I rolled over and looked at my phone on the bedside table, and saw that it was almost 11:30 at night. I looked beside me and saw Derek sleeping soundly, face buried in his pillow.

I slowly got off the bed and crept over one of the dressers, where I'd set out clothes just for this purpose. Dark sweatpants and T-shirt, and a beanie hat to cover my bright white hair.

I looked down into little Derek's crib and saw that he was asleep too, and prayed he would remain that way. If he woke up and started crying, Derek would wake up and see I was gone, and go on a rampage all through town...

And that would _not_ be pretty.

I picked up my

shoes and carried them with me as I crept down the stairs and out of the house, putting them on only when I got out to the gravel driveway.

I was standing under the darkness of the porch overhang for a few minutes before a car crept up the driveway, the gravel crunching softly under the tires. I went to it and opened the door and got in, and it began to slowly drift back down the driveway.

I could tell that the person driving wasn't human just by the smell of him. I didn't say anything though, I simply watched through the windows as we drove through the familiar streets and back roads of Beacon Hills. Soon enough, I knew where we were going.

And when the car pulled over in the middle of the road going through the woods, where Derek and I had gone to the cliff overlooking town, I knew _he_ would be waiting on that same cliff. How he knew Derek and I had went there though, I had no idea.

I got out and the car sped away, and I began stepping my way through the trees and shrubs. I had to jump over several fallen trees, more then there had been the last time I was here. That was many months ago, though.

I soon came upon the clearing stop the cliff, and could see a single man standing there. His form was illuminated by the almost-full moon, and I could see that his flyaway hair was an almost silver color.

When I got within ten feet of him, he turned, and I saw that he had bright blue eyes, almost exactly like mine. Anyone that would've saw us together would've sweated we were siblings.

"Who are you?"

He smiled and said "Like I said, just someone interested in you and your son. Though, you can call me Daniel. I'm...surprised you actually came."

"You killed my cousin and turned my best friend. I didn't come for friendly reasons."

"Oh, so your friend actually survived the bite?" He nodded, as if surprised. "I wasn't sure if she would. I was also hoping you would bring your son along."

"Are you **insane?** Oh wait, don't answer that, I already know you are. Why would I bring my _son_ to the man that wants to _kill_ him?"

"Alright, fair enough. You came here for answers, and I am ready to give them. I wouldn't lie to a fellow shifter, now would I?"

"Shifter?" I looked at him oddly.

"Shapeshifter. Like a werewolf, only we can transform into whatever we want. Though I'm sure you know that already. But we can also do much more than just shift into animals."

In my mind, I heard his voice saying _we can read minds and speak through thoughts, and even control humans if their will is weak. Some of the stronger ones, though, can do even more._

"Like what?" He chuckled.

"Shift into other people, turn humans into werewolves or whatever else they want. So I'm not sure if your friend will be a wolf, a were-cat, or something else entirely. Though I suppose you'll find out in a few days, won't you?"

I narrowed my eyes and said "I've never turned into anything but a wolf, and that's only since I came to Beacon Hills. Before that, I never changed into anything a day in my life."

_"That's_ why I'm interested in you! You're the first one of us to have such a delayed transformation, and to have a child! None of us others can transform into an Alpha werewolf like you can, Ian, and none have had a child, let alone with _another_ Alpha werewolf! A Hale family Alpha, at that. You are special because you are an Alpha, the first one of us to be. Your son comes from two Alphas, which is amazing even if he wasn't one of us! Two werewolf Alphas have never mated before, because they never come together, because of territory issues, and the fact that they don't get along. But look at you!"

"Quit it. Derek and I knew our baby was gonna be special, because we're both Alphas, but everything _you're_ saying? I get that my baby is special and not like other wolves, I can maybe even believe some of the stuff you've said, but about _me?_ I could never do any of the things my baby could do."

"Did your parents ever say anything, or any of your other family? You could do the things your son could do when you were a baby too. You've just...forgotten how. Your parents kept a close watch over you, they knew..."

"They knew _what?"_ This stranger had _no right_ to talk about my parents, especially with everything I'd just gone through to avenge their murders and take back _my_ pack.

"They knew I, or another one of us, would come for you one day. To show you our ways and everything we can do."

"And how would they have known that?"

"Because your mother was one of us."

I felt my inner Alpha scratching at the surface, wanting to rip this stranger to shreds. My eyes filmed over red and I let out a growl, and Daniel backed up several feet.

"Don't get angry at me, I am only speaking the truth! Your mother was with us, lived like us, followed our ways. When she met that _father_ of yours she abandoned us to live with him and have you. She even dyed her hair and pretended to be human, all so we wouldn't be able to find her. We found her eventually, and you too, living up in Westwood. Your mother had to be dealt with, for her abandoning us, so we contacted one of the local wolves in your father's pack to help us..."

I inched forward as I asked _"Who?"_

"His name was Jakob, I think. He took care of your mother for us, so we allowed him to become Alpha, since you were too young at the time..."

_"What?!"_ It was _him. He_ was responsible for my parents dying. Jakob was just a hired hand. _"You_ killed my parents? _You?!"_

"Ian, your mother abandoned our kind, we had to do it...It's our way."

**"I don't care!"** I let my inner Alpha come out, my urge to tear this man apart too much to resist now.

I hunched forward on all fours and let out a roar as my body began to change, and my clothes were torn to shreds. Daniel backed up further, and let out a roar of his own.

I stepped forward with my great wolf paws, feeling my claws dig into the dirt beneath me. Daniel hunched down and started to change to, but the sound of movement and twigs breaking in the trees made both of us pause.

I whipped my head around just in time to see an arrow whizzing toward us, and I jumped back out of the way. It flew past me and struck Daniel in the side, and he sped away. The hunters emerged from the trees with crossbows in hand, and they seemed directly focused on me. They barely noticed as Daniel scampered away.

I recognized the front man of the group as Chris Argent, Allison's dad.

He said "That you Derek? Didn't expect you to be out here attacking people. Shouldn't you be at home with that bâstârd child of yours?"

I roared at him and the others with him raised their weapons.

Praying that anything Daniel said was true, I tried to speak to him through his thoughts.

_Chris...It isn't Derek, it's Ian! Ian!_

He stared at me oddly, and I wasn't sure if he heard me. I stepped back a bit and tried to force a though through again.

_It's Ian...Someone was attacking me..._

"Ian..?" The other hunters looked at him oddly as he said my name. "Wow...I didn't realize you were an Alpha too..."

I hated myself for what I had to do, especially in front of all the other men. I stood on my hind legs, the hunters preparing to fire their weapons, and shifted back into a person.

As I tried to shake the dirt off my hands and knees, I said "Anyone have a jacket or something?"

Chris Argent handed his weapon to one of the others, and took the jacket off of his own back, and began walking towards me.

The one holding his weapon said "Wait. Is it safe?"

"Relax, I know what I'm doing...Stay here."

He walked over and handed me the jacket and I slipped it on, thankful it extended past my waist. I held it tightly shut as he sighed, staring down at me.

"You wanna explain what happened here?"

"I came out here to meet someone, and they attacked me...I changed only to defend myself...What are _you_ doing out here?"

"We were driving by and could hear the howls...Where's Derek?"

"At home...He doesn't know what I was doing, and I'd appreciate if you didn't say anything."

"Well, that depends...Who was that, and what exactly were you meeting about?"

I sighed, knowing I would have to tell him. It was either that, or have them suspect me of something I didn't do.

"The murdered boy here and in Westwood?" He nodded. "I was...meeting the one that did it..."

"Why? And why wouldn't you tell someone about it?! We've been looking for this guy blindly, because we haven't had any leads! Do you know how bad it looks that you're the only one that's talked to him?"

I cursed to myself. "You think I don't know that? He attacked my family while I wasn't at home, okay? He killed one of my cousins and hurt the other two, and...he turned my best friend Kay." He sighed, and it was a sound of disgrace. "He contacted me and wanted hi set a meeting up, apparently to explain why he was doing all of this. And...I found out something else..."

"What? What could possibly be worse?"

"The Alpha wolf in Westwood that we killed, Jakob...He was hired by this guy Daniel to kill my parents..."

"You know that for sure?"

I nodded. "He told me out of his own mouth."

"Let's...How about we just get you home, Ian...It's gonna be real hard to prove anything you've said, so it might take a little while...In the meantime, we'll have someone watching you, at all times." I nodded. "Is there anything else he might've said, anything important?"

I debated about whether to tell him what Daniel said about me and little Derek, and about the things little Derek could do.

I decided to tell him through his mind, so the other hunters wouldn't overhear.

_You can hear me, right?_ Chris nodded. _I don't know how or why I can do this, but...my baby can do it too. That's why Daniel is after me and him. He says that there are 'more of us' and that 'they're gonna come for us.' Can you please help us find and kill this guy?_

"I'll...help." I smiled, glad that he agreed, however begrudgingly it was. "But you have to tell me _everything_ you know, about everybody. You, the baby, this Daniel guy...everything."

I nodded. "Come over in the morning...I'll make sure Derek knows you're coming. But no other hunters, and no weapons." He nodded. "Tell your men to turn around."

He turned around and shouted to his men to turn around, and by the time he turned back, I'd scurried away, shifting into a wolf and running back towards town.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Derek..." I watched from our bedroom doorway as he put our sleeping baby in his crib for a nap. "I need to talk to you."

"About where you went last night?" He turned to face me, and I tried my best to stay expressionless. "I could smell the woods on you when I woke up."

"I had to go meet someone...I didn't expect you to understand, so I didn't tell you..." Derek was angry, I could tell, and I hated myself because I knew _I_ was the reason why. "The other day, after we found my cousins, someone contacted me...The same someone that attacked them." Derek's eyes widened. "Before you say it, I know I shouldn't have gone alone, and I'm sorry...But I had to do it."

He took a deep breath and said "What did he say?"

"He said he was after me and the baby...Not to kill us, just to...His word was to 'help' us." Derek rolled his eyes. "He said me and the baby weren't really wolves, but 'shapeshifters.' That we could turn in any animal we wanted, even into other people. He said that was why little Derek could talk to us and read our minds, and that I could do it too, and more. I didn't believe him at first, but he seemed to know what he was talking about..."

"Anything else?" I nodded and felt my eyes tear up, and Derek stepped towards me. "Ian? What is it?"

"He said that my mom was a shapeshifter too, that she abandoned them when she met my dad and...He hired Jakob to kill my parents when they found them..." Derek's eyes widened and he opened his arms, and I fell into them. Through sobs I said "Don't you get it? We killed the wrong person...Jakob didn't plan on killing my parents, he was just doing what Daniel said..."

He stroked my hair and said "It'll be okay, Ian...We got Jakob, we'll get this guy too..."

I shook my head and said "No we won't...He was strong enough to take down all three of my cousins, no problem...It'll be a piece of cake to take care of us...He even got shot by Chris Argent and ran away perfectly fine..."

Derek tensed as he said "Argent was there?"

"I explained to him what happened and he said he'd stop by to hear the whole story sometime today...But even with his help we can't beat this guy..."

"Ian, we'll beat him...Even if it means we have to bite someone..." I pulled back and looked up at Derek. "Maybe your friend Rachel and that idiot Stiles, anyone that's willing to risk it...I'll do whatever I have to to make sure you and the baby are safe..."

"Are you sure a few more betas will be enough, though?"

"Well, we can't _make_ an Alpha...And we sure as hêll can't deal with a third one in the same city..."

Derek's eyed widened and he seemed to freeze in place, and I said "What? What is it?"

"There is another Alpha in Beacon Hills...But we _can't,_ it's too risky..."

"What?!"

Derek sighed and said "You know we wolves are ruled by the full moon, right?" I nodded. Of course I knew that. "There's a way to use the full moon to...bring one of us back to life..." My own eyes widened in shock. "As long as the body isn't damaged bad and is in one piece, the full moon can be used to resurrect a wolf..."

The only dead wolf, the only dead _Alpha_ I knew of in Beacon Hills was...

"No. _No._ He tried to slaughter you, Scott, and half the dâmn town the last time he was alive! Do you really want that to happen again?!"

I looked over at little Derek's crib, and exhaled thankfully when I saw that he was still asleep.

"Look, we can do this or make more betas, but if there more of this guy like he said, we might have to end up doing both anyway. I'm just asking you to _trust_ this Ian."

"I'm _never_ gonna trust him...But I guess we don't have any choice...Where is he buried?"

"At my old house...I knew nobody would ever go there to look..."

I sighed and buried my face in Derek's shirt, hating what we were going to have to do next.

I could imagine us going to Hale house with a few shovels, digging under the dirt and leaves until we found the burnt remains of Peter Hale's body...

I shuddered at the thought.


	19. Reborn

I knocked lightly on Kay's bedroom door, and hear a weak sounding "Come in." I walked in and saw Kay sitting on her bed, staring out of her window. She barely turned when I walked over and sat beside her. "This isn't right, you know? Me and Rachel were supposed to be the ones taking care of you, not the other way around. Now look at how things turned out."

"Kay, it's not your fault..."

"But it is!" She turned to face me and I saw the streaks on her face from where the tears had been flowing. "I was the one that suggested we come up here, so you could get away from everything that happened in Westwood! Yeah, Rachel had this house, but she was gonna stay to help with you, but I said 'why don't we all move up together?' Now Ryan is dead, all the rest of us are in danger of dying, and I'm turning into a monster..."

"So I'm a monster? My husband and my son are monsters? Every friend we have in Beacon Hills is a monster?" She was silent. "Derek and I are going to go get someone to help us, another Alpha, and then you can at least decide whose pack you want to be in. Just make sure you

join one of us."

"Or what?"

I didn't particularly know if this was just my wolf side talking, but I said "Or you'll become a weakling Omega like Scott was, without a pack and without and way to defend yourself. If you join either me or Derek, we can keep you safe. Safe from the people trying to get me and little Derek, and safe from the third Alpha in town."

"Why would I need protection?"

"Because he's a dangerous person...Look, don't worry about that right now, just worry about turning tonight...We've got something set up in the basement for you, so you don't get out and...hurt anyone."

"What kind of thing?"

"Come on." We both stood up and exited the bedroom, passing Derek as we went down the stairs. I mentally sent him _I'm taking her into the basement to get ready_ and he nodded.

Rachel, Scott, and Stiles stared at us as we passed the sitting room, and I could tell all three were worried about Kay. I was too.

I flicked on the basement light and we went down slowly, and I noticed Kay avoided looking over at the door to the other room, where her and my cousins had been attacked.

Instead of going there, I directed her towards the back of the house, where Derek and I had been for over an hour yesterday, getting things ready.

Kay stopped when she saw the chain assembly we'd put together, and bolted to the floor and wall. Chains ran from the wall and floor to a harness we'd found, and to shackles for both her wrists and ankles.

"Do you really need all of this?" I nodded.

"We wolves have a lot of power, Kay...And new ones can't control themselves. You'll do anything, even try killing all of us, just to get out of here...So we had to be extra careful."

"Why don't you need to do this? Or Derek, or Scott?"

"Derek was born with it, so he's had years to learn how to control himself. As for me and Scott...We've both only been at this for months, but we've had Derek to teach us...And now I'm teaching you. But you have to make it through your first full moon first."

"Okay..."

Kay slipped into the harness, and it was quite loose on her, so I tugged at the straps to tighten it up.

As I was doing this, she said "What are those for?" I followed her gaze to where Derek and I had bolted more loops to the floor.

"Those...are for the other betas, if we need them." She looked confused. "The person that attacked you is very powerful, and to beat him, we might need to make more of us...Give more people the bite." She looked horrified, so I quickly said "But only people that are willing. I would never make anyone do this that didn't have to...That's why I hate that this is happening to you...This gift can ruin lives."

"Yet you seem to be fine." I smirked and backed up to inspect the harness.

"My life was already ruined, remember? It can't bet much worse than having your family slaughtered and not knowing who or why they did it...You can ask Derek that. Back up."

Kay stepped back and I attached several of the chains to her harness, even wrapping one around her waist and attaching it to itself.

As I was closing the shackles around her ankles, she said "What about the baby? Will anything happen to him?"

I shrugged. "Probably not, because he's so young, and we still don't know if he'll actually turn into anything."

I shut the shackles around her wrists next , and reached for the one that went on her head. It was a steel loop with several flat-ended screws in it, that screwed into her head.

"Wait, does that go on my head?!"

I nodded. "All of this is from Derek...He knows what he's doing. And you're like us now, you'll heal as soon as we take this off of you tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow morning?" She groaned.

"Are you gonna be able to stay still?" Kay nodded, and I slipped it onto her head.

As soon as I began turning the screws, Kay let out a scream, but desperately tried to stay in place. I knew everyone could hear her as she let out a second scream, and I shouted "Shut up Kay!"

She didn't. Her eyes glowed yellow and she growled at me, and yelped when I viciously turned one of the screws.

Her eyes went back to normal and she hurriedly said "I'm sorry Ian, I don't know why I did that, I..."

"I told you you wouldn't be able to control yourself." Kay's eyes began to water as I turned the last one, but she didn't scream. I went behind her and tugged on each of the chains, making sure they were still sturdily drilled into the concrete.

I walked around her and went for the stairs, and she said "You're not gonna stay with me?" I shook my head.

"Derek and I have something to do...But I'll see if Scott will stay with you...It's a good idea, just in case you accidentally get out."

I continued up the stairs and went through the house to the sitting room, where Derek had now joined the little group there. Little Derek was in Stiles' arms, which I found odd.

"Scott." He looked up. "Can you stay here, to watch Kay? She's chained in pretty good, but I need a wolf here just in case."

"Shouldn't I go with you? And what about Danny and Tyler?"

"They're still recovering...and don't want anything to do with what we're doing. Neither do I, but it has to be done." Scott stood and walked out, and as he passed I said "I got something to sedate Kay, if she does get out...It's in the fridge."

I looked at Derek and he nodded, and got up. "Stiles. You're coming too."

"Why?"

"We need someone to inject Peter when we raise him."

"But Scott..."

"Needs to watch Kay. Because if she gets out and there's no wolf here, everyone is screwed. Derek and I can hold Peter and you stick him."

"With what?"

"A little something I got from the hospital..." I looked at Rachel as I said "I believe you know it as Pancuronium."

Her eyes widened. "But...You'll _kill_ someone using that! Werewolf or not!" I shrugged.

Derek said "What is it?"

"A paralytic...The same one they use in lethal injections. It was the most powerful thing I could find."

"And we'll need it...Coming Stiles?" He handed the baby to Rachel and stood, following after us.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I kept my hand tightly wound around the syringe of the paralytic as I entered Hale house, my instincts screaming at me to leave. I knew this place was dangerous. This burnt-out shell of a house had the bloodiest history of any place I knew of. A family had been burned here, a good man's sister had beep torn in half here, and the death of my future husband and his second-in-command had almost come about here.

Not to mention my own...incident.

Stiles asked "Why are we inside? I though you said he was buried."

"He is...Just not out in the woods." Derek tapped on the floor with his foot and said "Under the floorboards."

I handed the syringe to Stiles and said "Try not to stab yourself, because we don't have the equipment to keep you alive if you do."

"Wait, this can really kill me?!" I ignored his panicked state and turned to Derek.

I grabbed the end of the dingy couch and helped him push it out of the way, and picked a dirty blanket off the floor and threw it over.

As he brought out his claws to start ripping at the floorboards, I said in a low voice "You know, this is where we were first alone together...Right on this dingy little couch."

He smiled a bit and said "I remember. You interrupted my workout and almost changed, and we ended up falling asleep together. After a bit of...heated interaction, of course."

"If that's what you call it...then sure."

I felt the smile spread across my face, but it quickly disappeared as I brought my claws out and knealt down, and started digging into the floorboards with Derek.

I saw Stiles cringe each time one of us would pry a board off, the squeaking of the nails tearing out annoying even my ears. Once there was a sizable hole about three feet across, we began digging into the dirt beneath the house.

We didn't get far down before I started to feel something solid, and at that same instant, my eyes began to water and my throat became itchy.

"Ah...What the hêll is _that?"_

Derek backed up and said "Wolfsbane...We bury ours with it so no other wolves will disturb the body. Stiles." He looked up. "Get this." Stiles groaned and opened his mouth to complain, but Derek's eyes went red and he said _"Now."_

"Okay, okay..." Stiles handed me the syringe and I backed up, and he dug a bit into the dirt. He pulled out a bushel of purple flowers I hadn't seen before and said "These all of them?"

"Yeah...Now move." I looked down into the hole as Stiles moved, and saw something odd happen.

Peter Hale's deceased body shifted from the Alpha wolf form he had been buried in to a human one, though very black and burnt.

"I guess you weren't kidding when you said you torched the guy."

"Not really." Derek went to the window and looked out, and pulled out a bag I hadn't noticed he brought. "Set these up to shine down into the hole."

I took the bag and saw it had several mirrors in it, to direct the full moon's light down into the hole.

I set one up by the window, had Stiles hold a second one, and I held a third one. As I prepared to turn my mirror so the light would shine down, and said "We're absolutely _sure_ we wanna do this?"

"No...but we don't have much of a choice anymore."

Derek reached down into the hole as I shined the light in it, illuminating the burnt remains of Peter Hale's body.

There was a moment when nothing happened, then I saw a minute twitch of his arm, and a burst of movement caused me to drop the mirror.

Stiles and I stepped back several feet, as did Derek, as floorboards cracked and a dusty, dirty form emerged from the hole.

I stood my ground as Peter stood and stared around the room at us, his bright blue eyes so similar to Derek's greens, I noticed. And they widened in interest when they came upon me.

"Well, well, well...Who do we have here? My favorite nephew, Scott's idiot best friend...and a new face. White hair, blue eyes...A shape shifter." I somehow wasn't surprised that he knew.

"And your nephews fianceé. And mother to his son." I saw Derek tense beside me, but I stood tall. Peter simply looked amused.

He looked at Derek and said "Wow, someone's certainly been busy since I've been gone."

"What we've been up to is none of your business. What we brought you back for is. A group of shifters has come to town, and killed one of my cousins. You're gonna help us find and kill each and every one of them."

He stepped closer to me and Derek growled a warning. "And what makes you think I'd help you? Or the people that killed me?" He glanced at a frozen Stiles.

I let my eyes film over Alpha red and said "Or I'll put you back down in that hole for good."

He turned from us and I heard him begin to growl, so I grabbed the syringe of the paralytic and stuck it in his back. There was a pause before he fell to the floor, claws twitching against his body.

Derek looked at me and I said "What?"

"Nothing...just reminding myself to never get on your bad side."

I smiled and said "I don't think that can ever happen. Look, we have to get him back to the house and in the basement in 10 minutes time..."

"Or?"

"He'll suffocate." Derek seemed to contemplate this, and I remarked "We just got dirty digging him up an bringing him back, we might as well use him as we need to. And he knew what I was right away, so I'm betting he knows more."

"Fine." He took his car keys and threw them to Stiles, and said "Open the trunk. Touch anything else and you're dead." He scurried out and I took Peter by the feet, and Derek under his arms.

"I'm **so** going to need a shower by the time we're done here..."

"Is that an _official_ invite?" I grinned and shrugged as we walked out the front door. "We never did get to have our alone time."

"I know...and with four other wolves in the house, we technically still wouldn't be alone, because they'd be able to hear everything."

"So? You're my _wife,_ they can deal with it." We went to the open trunk of the Camaro and dumped Peter's body in. "You're sure he won't wake up?"

"Oh, he's awake, he just can't move. And we have...roughly 8½ minutes until he's dead, so let's _go."_

Stiles already in the backseat, I took the drivers seat and the keys from Stiles and started it up.

Derek got in beside me and said "And when did I say you could drive?"

"When you asked me to marry you...Well, actually just said 'we're getting married, Ian.'"

Stiles said from the backseat "8 minutes, remember?"

"Yeah yeah yeah..."

I yanked the parking brake up and shifted into 1st gear, and peeled out of the driveway, spraying gravel against the side of the aged, broken Hale house.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Derek held Peter down while I chained him to the floor, using a setup similar to the one on Kay, except he would be completely immobile. And enclosed in the dark room at the end of the basement, where Ryan had died.

I paused as I heard a roar and metal chains clanging, and knew Kay was trying to escape. I tightened the last of the shackles and stood, staring down at Peter's immobile body.

With the anti-paralytic running through his veins now, he would soon regain the ability to move, and already could talk. He was just choosing not to.

But as Derek and I left the room he said "Let me out when you're ready to hear about the shifters."

I shut the door and could hear him laugh quietly. I turned my attention to Kay, who had her claws out and was changed into her wolf form, which was almost hideous compared to her normally angelic-looking face. Her head and wrists were bleeding from where she was struggling against her restraints, and as Derek and I approached, she aimed a claw swing, which fell far short.

"Was Scott like this?" Derek nodded. "How long will it take?"

"Depends on her and how she takes to it. She needs to stay focused, which will be hard with everything that's going on...It would help if she had an anchor." I looked confused, and he went on to explain. "Something to focus on to keep you calm and level-headed...Scott uses Allison, I used to use my anger..."

"And now?" He took me by the hands and, despite our less-than-ideal surroundings, smiled. "Me. I never changed unwillingly except that once...So I guess I found my anchor before I knew I even needed one."

"And you're welcome for that." I chuckled. "Like that time on my couch, when you almost changed, and held my hand until you went back to normal..."

"I think 'wolfing out' is what Stiles calls it...And you were the reason I was going to, anyway. You and your devilishly good looks...It's unfair."

"Really?"

"Definitely! Those eyes that shine like emeralds, those rough-yet-gentle hands, and those perfectly chiseled abs...It's too much for any one person..."

"Well it's good that I'm not by myself here, now isn't it?"

As I stared up at his perfect smile, I felt a stirring beneath my skin. Not an Alpha stirring, but a _desire._

I stood on my toes and whispered in his ear "Wait 10 minutes and follow me into the shower..."

_"There's_ the Ian I remember...Let's she if she remembers what we do when we're alone together..."

I grinned and said "Oh, I _more_ than remember...Just you wait."

As I sauntered up the stairs, past a quieted-down Kay, I looked back and saw Derek's green eyes following me, filled with desire. I smiled to myself again as I continued up the stairs.


	20. Urges

Through the whooshing sound of water falling past my ears and the **tap-tap-tap** as it hit the shower floor, I heard the door to my bedroom close, and the sound of the lock clicking. With a smile, I opened the door to the shower just as the door to the

bathroom opened, revealing Derek in all of his half-naked glory.

"That was 20 minutes, you know. I was about to give up on you."

"I bought us a bit more privacy...Sent Scott and your two cousins to the hospital to get X-rays, make sure their bones are healed up."

As he undid his belt buckle, I chuckled and said "But they don't need them, do they?" He shrugged. "This is what I miss about old Derek. He was a lot more devious than new Derek."

He dropped his pants and revealed no boxers underneath, and as he stepped into the shower with me, said "Who says old Derek ever left?" He put his hands on both my wrists and pushed me against the shower wall, and I felt his lips trail up my neck. Against my skin he muttered "He was just waiting for an opportunity to strike you while you're weak..."

"Oh...so I'm weak..?" I struggled to keep the moan out of my voice, but I think he knew anyway.

I felt his hands under me and in one swift move, Derek hoisted me high into the air, bringing his mouth to that sweet spot between my legs.

I quickly thanked whoever built this house for the high ceilings, but was just as soon overcome by the pleasure of his tongue flicking in and out of me and all around down there. He sucked lightly on my clit and when I moaned, he stepped it up and I buried my fingers in his hair.

I felt a climax coming quickly and tightened my hold on him, and as tremors rocked my body I let out a small scream. He powered right through it, extending it until I felt the muscles in my legs go weak.

Derek looked up at me as he lowered me back down into the hot spray of the shower head, and said "You're weak now."

"One little go doesn't mean I'm out for good...You should know better..."

"Maybe I don't..." He put his hands on my sides and lifted me again, and I wrapped my legs around his waist. I could feel him throbbing beneath me and yearned to have him inside me. "Maybe I just need go see how many times I can make you go..."

He abruptly pulled back and pounded into me, and I almost let out another scream, but it turned into a noiseless moan of pleasure as we rubbed against each other, bodies mingling in a way I missed.

Derek thrust into me as hard as he could and I dragged my fingers down his back as I moaned, the feeling of him in me after so many weeks almost too much to handle. My nails digging into the skin of his back only made him go faster and harder and my moans got louder until I was screaming again.

"Derek..! Oooh..!" I couldn't form words as more tremors rocked through me, and he pushed right through those too.

"Come on Ian, come on..!"

I dug my fingers in and arched my back as I shouted "Derek..!"

The squelching of our wet bodies slapping together slowed as he slowed and hugged his body to mine as he came inside me. I felt him trembling a bit too, and after a soundless laugh I weakly said "I guess...I'm not the only one...who's weak now..."

Derek pressed his lips to mine in a rough kiss, and against my lips muttered "That was nothing...Just wait until I get you on that bed..."

"Who says we need a bed?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After dressing in my favorite pair of loose jeans and extra-big white T-shirt, I almost fluttered down the stairs in my bare feet, and caught Rachel's eyes as I reached the bottom of the stairs.

I went into the TV room and she said "You know, the shower doesn't cover _all_ the noises."

I held back a grin as I said "Don't know what you're talking about."

She stood and put her hands to her throat, and silently screamed _"Derek!"_

We both broke out in laughter. "What can I say...The man's talented." The still-fresh memory filled my mind and, combined with how weak and wonderful my body felt, left me grinning and blushing all at once. "I _really_ needed that."

"Sounds like it...Now if only I could get a little someone like that for my own...Ohh..."

I went over to Rachel and sat on the other side of little Derek's bassinet and said "You'll get someone, I'm _sure_ of it...Hêll, I could set you up with someone I know."

"Like who?" I shrugged, and several faces ran trough my mind.

Jackson. NO.  
Danny or Tyler. NO.  
One of Scott's lacrosse buddies. NO.  
Danny and Tyler were too much like family and too young, and the rest just didn't know enough about our situation to be suitable.

But there was one...

I let out a laughter and Rachel exclaimed "See! I told you there was nobody!"

"No, no, I can think of someone...I'm just not sure what _he_ would think about it..."

"Who?" Before I had the chance to say anything, she said "Wait, lemme guess...Scott?"

"No..!"

"Umm...his friend? Stiles?"

I held back a laugh as I nodded. "There's more guys, but none that know about us, and not all of them are good looking...I know it's a long-shot, but..."

"Well, he _is_ pretty cute...But it'd be weird wouldn't it?" She seemed not to've noticed anything I said. "I mean, after everything that's happened, he probably doesn't even think about me..."

"Well, if you don't wanna go for Stiles, you can always try someone else. Maybe someone that works at the hospital. Oh!" A perfect person popped into my head. "Skylar! He's cute, only 21, has a job...and he's single."

"How do you know?"

"He...told me. Come on, you know you wanna...I know you're a sucker for the eyes and he's got big blue ones..."

Rachel laughed and said "Okay, okay, you convinced me. I will ask out the man that helped deliver your baby...But it'd better be worth it."

"Don't tell me...I never dated the guy."

"Yeah, because you've only dated one guy, who isn't even human. And now you're getting married and having babies and having loud, crazy sêx in the shower."

I shrugged one shoulder and we laughed together.

I looked in the bassinet and saw that little Derek was still sleeping peacefully, as if there had never been a noise.

"Think you can handle him a bit longer?"

"That depends...are you going back upstairs?"

I chuckled. "No. I'm going in the kitchen, to get something to drink."

"Ah, yes...Because lots of hot, vigorous sêx makes you get dehydrated."

"Oh, shut up...If you get with Skylar, I'm going to make fun of you all the time then, too."

I stood and went through the house to the kitchen, and went right to the fridge. Kay kept water bottles in the bottom drawer; I took one out and smiled as I drank it, the cold water helping to cool me down. After about half the bottle was gone, I took it and went to the sliding back door and looked out.

The full moon was high in the sky, and shined its soft white light all over. I could see how the big backyard extended all the way back to the trees and beyond, and was fearful at what might be lingering in those trees watching us.

I heard his footsteps long before he reached me, and took solace in Derek's warm embrace as he wrapped his arms around me.

I leaned back into him as he said "He's out there somewhere, isn't he? Daniel?" I nodded. "He's not going to get you or the baby...I'll die before I let that happen."

"No, you won't. Whether me and little Derek are in danger or not, you are _not_ going to give yourself up...Not _ever._ Promise me that." Derek was silent and I turned in his arms, taking him by the shirt as I said _"Promise,_ Derek."

"Fine...I promise. Now will you just relax and let me try to take care of you?" He hugged me to him again as he said "You try to be so strong for everyone, through everything you've been through...Just let someone else take the lead on this one, huh?"

I shrugged. "I try to take care of everyone because I don't want them getting hurt...Don't want _you_ getting hurt...Look how I've 'succeeded' at that."

"But it's not your fault people are getting hurt...It's the fault of this dâmned shifter...And we'll get him, okay?"

"Sure..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**(Derek's PointOfView)**

I looked beside me to see Ian still soundly asleep, her hair in a mess around her bright face. I kissed her lightly before I climbed off the bed and went over to little Derek's crib. He was asleep too, his tiny blankets in a heap around his tiny feet.

I pulled on my jeans from the night before and hurried down the stairs, through the silent house, and down to the basement. When I flicked the light on and went down, I saw Ian's friend Kay laying still on the floor, her face and wrists covered in her own blood.

"Kay." I kneeled down and shook her lightly, and she took a minute to slowly sit up. She looked around, confused. "Full moon's over."

"Where's Ian?"

"Upstairs, still asleep. I thought you'd like a shower before everyone saw you..." She looked down at herself, and at all the blood she'd lost. "Don't worry...these cuts in your forehead will heal before you even get upstairs."

She nodded and held still while I unscrewed the head harness, letting out a sigh when each of the screws left her skin.

"I still can't believe it...Ian, I understand, but I was never supposed to be like _this..."_ Once I unlatched her wrists, I stood so she could let herself out of the ankle shackles. "Isn't there any way to...reverse this?"

"Not for you...You weren't bitten by a regular werewolf." Kay stood and looked around me, at the back room of the basement.

"What's in there? I can hear something...moving."

"What we went to get last night, while you were down here...The third Alpha." Her eyes widened. "Did Ian tell you about...things? What happened before you moved here?"

"Some stuff, not everything...Why? Who's back there?"

"My uncle...Peter Hale. He was Alpha before I killed him, and he went on a rampage through town and killed almost a dozen people..."

"Then why would you bring him back?! Isn't that dangerous? Couldn't he start killing people again?"

"Maybe...If it comes down to a fight with the shifters, we're hoping he'll side with us."

"What if he doesn't?"

"Then my wife is going to kill him with her own claws. Her words. Look, you go upstairs, get cleaned up..."

Kay nodded and started up the creaky stairs, but not without a look back at the door to the room containing my psychotic uncle.

Once she was gone, I went to that room and wrenched open the door, letting the light spill onto his chained-down body.

He dryly laughed and said "That was quite a chat with the young girl, way to keep her hopes up, nephew."

"I'm not going to lie to her. She knows the odds on how long she'll survive as one of of us...Chances are, her and most of us will be dead before the next full moon."

"Well, that's mostly accurate...See, the bite she got from that shifter, you only _think_ she took to it...Not so true Derek..."

I kneeled by his head and said "What are you talking about? Her bite healed, she turned into one of us."

"For now...Let me out of here and I'll tell you the rest."

"Not a chance."

"Alright, if you want your fianceé's best friend to die..."

I grumbled and detached the chains on both his wrists and said "Let yourself out." I stood as he slowly unchained himself and removed his shackles, and stood, dusting himself off. "Alright, _Peter._ Tell me what's wrong with Kay."

"I already did. That girl won't make it to the next full moon no matter _what_ you do...Sorry to bring the bad news."

I pushed him against the stone wall and let out a growl, and muttered **"Why?"**

"Because she was bitten by a shifter! Shifters by birth are fine, they go on to live long lives, but humans who are _bitten?_ It doesn't work like us, Derek. They don't turn into us or die, they just die. Humans and shifters aren't...compatible. There's no way to stop it from happening, whether you like it or not."

I thought back to what Ian told me Daniel had said. _I didn't think she would survive the night..._

"How long does she have?"

He shrugged. "Maybe two weeks, maybe only two hours. All depends on the person. But she will die, they all do."

"How do you know?"

"Because I'm not an idiot. Because I've dealt with creatures besides just werewolves, nephew. If you were smart, you would've realized that a long time ago."

As he turned and left the small room, I said "If we can't save Kay...then tell me how to kill a shifter."

"Shower, then details...I still smell like death and the pests that were feeding on my corpse. Thanks for that, by the way."

I followed him up the stairs to the first floor, and to the bathroom off the hallway.

"Shower, then back to the basement."

"Aww, won't you even let me sit on one of the beautiful leather couches out there?"

I didn't smile. "We can't trust you. You kill people. The only reason you're not still rotting in that hole is because we need your help...And if I don't think you can help, then I'll kill you. Again."

I pulled the door shut and turned to go back upstairs, but froze when I saw Ian standing in the hallway, barely five feet away from me.

"How long were you standing there?"

"Long enough..." She tapped her fingers against the wall, and I saw that her claws were out. "Why did you take him out?"

"He knows things. About the shifters, about what's happening to Kay...Look, Ian, he told me something that I think you need to hear..."

"Like what? How my kind doesn't mix well with humans, or how Kay might not make it 'till tomorrow!?" I watched her silently as she inhaled a deep breath and continued. "Just because I was two floors up doesn't mean I didn't know what you were saying. I don't have to be in the same room, even the same building to read your mind, Derek. Do you remember what Ryan said to you? About not keeping secrets from me?"

"Yes...and I wasn't going to keep it from you, I swear. My uncle is dangerous, and very likely to try to kill me or even you...I wanted to find out everything I could from him before I told you."

"Don't you think he might talk to me too? Because just like I know he's hunched behind the door listening to us, I know that he knows what I am, and that I can read his mind anytime I want to." Ian went silent for a moment. "And I know that you're having second thoughts."

"What?"

"About digging him up."

I went to Ian and took her by the hands and said "Of course I am...aren't you?" She nodded. "Exactly. I never wanted to do this, never wanted you to go through what I had to to keep me and Scott safe...and now I can't stop it. There's a group of some kind of creature out there trying to kill us, and the only person that knows how to kill them is my psychotic uncle..."

"Don't forget me. I'm one of them...So if your uncle won't tell you what their weaknesses are, you can test them out on me."

"No! I told you I wasn't putting you in danger and I meant it."

_Daddy..._ I heard little Derek's mental voice resounding in my head.

"The baby's awake."

"I know. That's why I woke up. He's been asking me where you were."

"Rain check on the argument?"

Ian smiled and said "No, I'm cancelling the argument. I feel like all we do is argue anymore...We should do something else for awhile."

"Hmm...I can only wonder what..."

I kissed Ian lightly before going up the stairs, keeping my trained ears listening. If ever my uncle was going to try and use his tricks to get himself out of here, it'd be when he was alone with Ian.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**(Ian's PointOfView)**

"It's Ian, isn't it?" I turned to see Derek's uncle standing in the doorway of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel and hair dripping.

"Yes, it is. Though I don't have any particular wish for you to say my name..." He chuckled.

"Since our introduction was pretty much nonexistent, allow me to do the honors. Peter Hale, at your service." I didn't return his smile.

"Let's get one thing straight before I start asking you questions: I don't like you. You tried to kill my fiancé and my best friends, and that is something I can never forgive. I may not have been here then, but I'm here now. And right now, I want to know how to kill my kind."

"Shall we wait until I'm dressed, or is nude the way to go now?" Again, I didn't smile, only produce a pile of clothes Derek had brought down for his uncle to wear.

I turned while he quickly dressed, and once he was, we went into the sitting room. He sat alone on one of the white leather couches and I sat on the recliner adjacent to it.

"So, might I get a bit of the back story here? I have been gone for several months."

I sighed. "Fine, but only because it may help you understand things a bit better. I came to town shortly after they killed you, and met Derek, Scott, and Stiles the first day. Derek and I got together within the first week, and in the second discovered that I was an Alpha werewolf. Things went smooth for awhile, Derek and I got serious, and I got pregnant." I didn't know if he was listening or not, but I kinda hoped he was. "It was a supernatural thing, the baby grew at an incredible rate..."

"And you thought it was because you're both Alphas." I nodded. "Go on."

"Soon after, we discovered evidence that my parents' car crash when I was younger wasn't an accident, but that a wolf from my dad's pack killed them so he could be Alpha. We went back to Westwood, convinced my three cousins to leave Jakob's pack and join mine, and we beat and killed most of them. After the fight, the baby grew even faster, and I ended up going into labor at a pizza place in town during a huge thunderstorm...Soon after I got out of the hospital we discovered our baby could...do things."

"Read your mind, talk to you...All shifters can do that."

"Which I only found out after this Danny came to town and told me, and said I was a shifter too. Which explains the hair, apparently. But that I was also the first Alpha shifter, and the first one to have a baby to a wolf, or an Alpha wolf. He said he came after us because me and my baby were special shifters...He didn't get much farther than that before I turned on him and the hunters showed up though."

"So you dug me up because you don't think you can beat these shifters...because just this one beat all three of your cousins so easily."

"We needed the strength...but since you seem to know about them, we _might_ decide to let you live...Maybe."

I let him think that over for a moment or two.

"What do you know about shapeshifters?"

"Well, I've told you they don't mix well with humans. By birth with them, yes, by bite, no. With wolves, it's the same. Though shifters and wolves are both very rare, so they rarely interact, which is why you and your son are the first products of a shifter and a wolf. Which is why they want you. Their kinds fight amongst themselves so much, they rarely have time to fight against us wolves. Because they don't have leaders, Alphas, like we do. They probably want you to help organize them so they can strike against us."

"But why little Derek? He's just a baby."

"And they can teach him their ways, how they live. Like how Derek must've taught you when you first arrived here. They can teach him to take over when he gets older, and eliminate the werewolves."

"But _why?"_

"Because our bite, the very same one that will kill or change a human, can kill them." My eyes widened. "Their bite will either change a wolf into a shifter, or kill them, like we do to humans. Shifters can't change back into werewolves, and that's why they just die. No cure for a shifter bite, no cure for our bite...That anybody knows of. And unless you can somehow find a cure in the next two or three weeks, your friend **will** die."

I wrung my hands tightly together. "What are the signs?"

"Her behavior will change...She'll be alright at first, but she'll go from happy and nice to miserable and in pain real fast. She'll bleed out of every hole and she'll be in constant pain from the time it starts right up until the end...Some of the longer lasting ones even start to have seizures and break bones, pop blood vessels...And she'll eventually stop healing from all of that, which is when she'll finally die. If she's lucky to make it 'till the next full moon..." He chuckled. "I don't know what'll happen. No human has ever made it a month."

"How do you _know_ all of this?! Nobody even knew what a shifter was before they got here, but you seem to have all the answers! What in the hêll are you up to with all of this?!"

"I told Derek, I study other creatures than just us...And, between you and me, I had a bit of a thing with a shifter once. She filled me in on most of this." I groaned and rubbed at my temples, a headache fast coming on. "Tell me...Has my great-nephew started to change, or to use his mental powers?"

"Besides to speak to us, no...Why?"

"I know some of the abilities shifters have...some can show up quite young. What have you been able to do so far?"

"Just the same...I thought I was just a wolf until a couple of days ago. Daniel told me some shifters can turn into other people, control people with their minds, even more..."

"One would have to be very powerful to do those things...And I seriously doubt this Daniel or any of his groupies are that powerful. But if you could learn to use your powers like your son is already learning...Who knows. There may yet be a good reason to have you as my niece after all."


	21. Abilities

"Simply _focus._ As if you were transforming into a wolf, but do not visualize the wolf. Visualize another animal. A dog, a cat, a bird, anything you like."

"How about I visualize a dragon so I can spit fire and kill you? Oh wait, someone already did that...Just missed my chance." I heard Scott and Stiles stifle laughter from their places on the back porch of the house. Them, Derek, Rachel, Kay, and my two cousins were sitting there too, all waiting to see if I would be able to transform like Peter was trying to help me to do. Only he was irritating me more than he was helping me.

Maybe it was just because of who he was and what he'd done, or the way he kept glancing over at Derek holding the baby, that angered me. I didn't know. But when he turned to look again, I shoved him and said "Why do you keep doing that?"

"If he sees you transform, he may try to do the same...And that's not a shifter thing, that's just because you're his mother. So try to keep the violence to a minimum."

I shut my eyes and inhaled a deep breath through my nose, and said "If you touch me, you're gonna lose those fingers." I peeked an eye open to see him lowering one of his hands.

Peter looked over at Derek again and said "Quite a feisty woman you have here, Derek...I don't remember you going for this type back in the day."

Just loud enough for us to hear, Derek said "Just wait until you really get her angry. I'll probably have to

step in to help. You."

This time, Stiles and Scott broke out in uncontrollable laughter, even as Derek glared at them. The slightest smile appeared on my face and I winked at my fiancé, and the smile grew when he returned the gesture.

"Pay attention Ian...Unless you want to transform into a bug, in which case I might not see you underneath my foot..." I growled but didn't speak a response, knowing it would just give him satisfaction. I kept my mouth shut as I closed my eyes and focused again.

I begun to imagine a cat in my mind, one of the simplest things I could think of. But with Derek's uncle's incessant muttering in my ear about focus and my own growing impatience, I decide to go right for something bigger.

I hunched over on all fours as I let out a howl, which slowly replaced itself with the higher-pitched _yeowllll!_ of a cat. A big cat. I could hear my clothes tear as my body expanded, my skin yellowing and sprouting orange-tinted fur, and a tail growing its way out of the small of my back.

Peter jumped back several feet as I swung my head around and roared at him. I smiled internally, realizing I was fully awake and aware, and knew what I was doing. But Peter didn't know that...

I advanced on him, feeling my new curved feline claws dig into the dirt and my tail swing slowly back-and-forth. I turned my gaze on the house, and in the back window could see my own reflection. Just like a real lion, except the eyes. My eyes were still their normal bright blue.

I stepped toward Derek's uncle again, emitting a long, continuous growl and I moved almost weightlessly. He back up slowly and said "Ian...Derek, you'd better get your woman!"

I sent a mind message to Derek. _Don't worry, I'm just scaring him...I won't kill him. Yet._

Derek laughed and said "Nah, it looks like you got this one uncle. I'll just wait here."

Peter cursed his nephew and I stepped forward again, and saw his eyes flash Alpha red.

I sent a mind message to him too. _The next time you bother me, remember this moment. I could have pounced and ripped your throat out with my teeth, but I __chose__ not to...Remember._

Peter stood straight up as he realized I hadn't lost control, that I was only messing with him, and stalked back towards the house. I decided I wasn't quite done with him yet, and next focused the image of a great eagle in my mind.

I held in my scream of protest this time, as my body began to shrink to less than half the lion's size and my legs retracted, and were replaced with wings and giant talons. I screeched and launched myself in the air, finding that flying came almost as easily to me as did walking or anything else. I could really get used to this shifter stuff.

I dove towards Peter's retreating form, but pulled up when he quickly disappeared beneath the porch overhang. There were more bellows of laughter, and Peter mumbling sarcastically.

_Rachel._ I felt her acknowledge my mind-speak. _Can you bring me some clothes since I shredded mine?_

_That was your fault...You should've just turned into a cat._

_I did. Just not a house cat._ I heard her laugh and she entered the house, and I flew up by her bedroom window,

A minute or so passed before she struggled to pull it open and I flew in, and shifted back into myself. "I think we need to oil these windows...I don't think my grandparents ever opened them."

"Think of where we live. Would you leave them open either?" She shrugged. "Where's my clothes?"

"Oh, yeah, here." She tossed me something that definitely was not mine. "New you, new clothes, right?"

I chuckled as I examined the black leather and fabric. "Where did you get this?"

"It's mine, of course...Even I like to buy the occasional naughty thing." I laughed.

"You should've told me sooner...I might have to borrow your stash when Derek and I go on our honeymoon, whenever we get married." We both broke out in laughter.

"The matching boots are in the closet. Have fun." Rachel left the room and shut the door. I left the window open to let a bit of a breeze in, because the air in here was stagnant and made it harder to breathe. And I hated the smell of stagnant air, it was so...musty.

One pair of torn black skinnies, a gray skintight shirt, black stiletto ankle boots, and one pair of fingerless gloves later, I looked like the badâss chick that I felt like at that moment. And when Rachel walked back in carrying a cup of coffee, her face told me I looked good too.

"Who knew my lil' sis would get her figure back so fast after having that baby...You look _nice."_

I laughed. "This isn't even my figure. Suck out two cup sizes from my boobs and and least one from my âss, then maybe. Maybe." We both laughed. "Everyone's inside?"

She nodded. "Kay has little Derek, and everyone is keeping a watch on Derek's uncle, just in case. Your fiancé is the only one still out back though. I guess you're gonna surprise him out the window?"

I placed a hand over my heart and mockingly said "You know me so well. Close the window reeeeeally quietly, okay?"

I climbed out onto the porch overhang, and Rachel slowly shut her window. I looked over the edge and saw Derek standing against one of the wood staffs supporting the overhang, arms crossed.

"You look so serious Derek...What happened to the lighthearted, laughing guy from ten minutes ago?"

Without looking up he said "He's waiting for his woman, that's what. Are you wearing leather?"

I chuckled. "So you can smell that, huh? I'll have to remember that..." I grabbed the edge of the small roof and swung down, wrapping my legs around Derek before he even had a chance to blink. "What do you think? I think it'll do awesome as my new shapeshifter-hunting gear."

He uncrossed his arms and slid them down my skintight jeans, sticking his thumbs through the destroyed holes in them. "I think these will come off way too easily..."

"That's the point...And not just for the reasons you're thinking of." I wrapped my hands around his neck and he walked out onto the grass. "And the best part is, they're not even mine."

He smirked. "So I can literally rip these clothes off your body without worrying about you getting angry...Hmm..." As he pretended to think, he jerked his thumbs up my thighs, tearing the jeans even more. "Now what should I do with that information..."

I giggled. "They're expecting us inside, you know..."

"And your friend Rachel gave this to you for a reason, didn't she?" Another jerk, another inch torn up my leg. "She knew I was outside alone, and that you'd come out to find me..." He was muttering his warm breath on my ear and I shivered in delight. "And you knew you wouldn't be able to keep this on for long..."

As he softly pressed his lips to my neck, I moaned "I...hoped..."

I heard a growl from deep in Derek's chest and a loud tearing sound, and the skintight shirt I wore tore free of one shoulder. I dug my fingers in his hair as he buried his face in the crook of my neck, nibbling hard at the skin there.

I felt his desire through his jeans as he laid me down on the soft grass, and I saw that we were much farther from the house than I thought, and behind a thick bunch of trees.

"You evil bâstârd...Distracting me like that..."

Against my skin he muttered "Don't know what you're talking about" and I heard another tear, and the shirt split right down the middle. As he pressed his lips down my torso, he again muttered "I didn't do anything."

"Liar..." It was more a moan than a word as he dug his fingers into the hem of my tight jeans and, with a flick of the wrist, the button flew off. "You're gonna...pay for that..."

"Hmm...Gonna make me..?" I gasped as he trailed his tongue down my stomach and to the edge of my jeans which he slowly began to inch down. "I didn't hear an answer..."

My body's answer was to emit a low growl from deep in my chest, almost like a cat's purr. He chuckled and was momentarily distracted from his task of trying to get my pants off.

I chuckled along with him until a crackle of leaves distracted me, and I froze. He looked up and I placed a finger to his lips, and pointed out towards the other trees. I slowly inched my pants back up and Derek positioned himself protectively over me, eyes flitting from one tree or bush to the next.

I heard another similar sound, but this time I knew he heard it too, because he tensed and his eyes zeroed in on a spot way out in the woods.

He began to growl but I shushed him.

I used my mind speak to say _Hold on. I might be able to find out who it is._ He nodded, reluctantly.

I reached out with my mind, way out into the woods, and could feel the minds of all the little animals that were now fleeing the scene. Off in the direction Derek was staring, I felt the presence of a familiar mind.

_Daniel, why are you here?_

_Only here to see you, of course. To apologize for the other night...And to see if you would reconsider our offer._

_No. Neither me or my son are going to join your stupid little cult of a pack._

_Even if you were our leader? There are dozens of us, __**dozens,**__ and we are all waiting for our own Alpha to lead us. And that's you, and your son._

_Sorry, still not interested. I suggest you get outta here right now. You might've been able to take on all three of my cousins, but they weren't an Alpha like Derek is. Or a shifter, or an Alpha shifter, like I am._

I heard Daniel chuckle in his mind.

_You're alone out here. By the time your pack of wolves hears you, it'll be too late to save you._

I pushed against Derek and he stood, and pulled me up with him.

_Show yourself. We're far enough away from the house that they can't hear us. Show your face or I'll come hunting for it._

There was a pause before I spotted movement way back in the trees, and Daniel appeared. Derek took off his own shirt and I pulled it over my head, to replace the one he'd just ripped.

With a smirk as he reached us, Daniel said "Looks like someone was doing something they shouldn't have out here in the middle of the woods...You've gotten so bad, Ian."

"What I do with my time and my fiancé is none of your business. Why would you show up here right now? I told you, I'm not interested in _anything_ you have to tell me."

"Are you sure?" I growled.

"You bit my best friend and now she's going to die. You're trying to get me to be the leader of your idiotic group of shifters, and I'm guessing only so you can be second-in-command? I'll have no part of it, and neither will my family."

"I see...What if I told you your two cousins were going to be shifters too?" My face twisted with rage. "I can easily call someone down right now to bite them and everyone else in that house...Including your other friend, Rachel, I think her name is?"

"You'll do _**nothing!"**_ My voice came out as a roar and I advanced on him. "You come threatening my family _again_ and simply expect me to go with you? I fought you off once, I can fight you off again."

"I am simply trying to show you our ways. If you would come with us, see how we live, you would see things as we do...And you wouldn't need to stay here in this place that causes you so much pain."

"I'll go _nowhere_ with you." My eyes filmed over Alpha red and I felt that side of me coming out, wanting to shred this idiot to pieces. _"Get the hêll out of here before I rip your intestines out and use them to hang you from a tree."_

Daniel backed up several paces. "You'll regret this, Ian...I won't be the only one of us that will come for you now. Even both of your packs combined will never be enough to finish off five dozen of us. I'm warning you now. Feel lucky I am even telling you this. If we wanted, we could show up in the night and suffocate you all while you sleep, and nobody would ever know a thing...They'd find your charred bodies laying in your beds, and never find out who set the fire. Right Derek?"

I felt Derek tense and he let out his own growl, and I took his clawed hand tightly in mine. Daniel disappeared back into the trees, and neither I nor Derek moved an inch until we couldn't hear or smell him anymore.

One I was sure he was gone, I wrapped my arms around Derek and pressed my face to his chest. I held in the sobs that desperately wanted to come out. I'd cried enough when Ryan died and Kay was bitten.

In his low, rough wolf voice he growled "He had no right to talk about my family...None." I looked up and saw Derek's perfect features twisted into the snarling grimace of the werewolf, his eyes glowing bright red as he stared after Daniel. "I should follow his scent and hunt him down right now."

"But we can't leave the family unprotected, you know that." I paused for a second when I realized what I'd said. Not 'my cousins' or 'Rachel and Kay' or even 'Scott and Stiles'. My _family._ All of them.

"I didn't say we. I said me."

"No!" I wrenched his twisted face down to look at me. When I went to put my hand on his cheek, he turned his face away, but I pulled it gently back. "Wolf or not, I don't want this face to leave my sight, not even for a second."

I ran my hand across his distorted features, over the mouth that contained his poisonous canines, that I now knew could kill me if they ever pierced my skin.

I looked into his green-again eyes before pressing my lips to his. He paused before kissing me back, and I could feel his wolf features melt away. And when I pulled back, he had the same old face I dreamed about every night and stared at every day.

"You're not going anywhere, you hear me? If we fight them, we fight them together. That's what a family does."

"Family..." Derek sighed. "I haven't had one of those in a long time..."

"Well, you have one now. And I don't just mean me and little Derek. We're _all_ a family here. We stayed a family through Jakob, we'll stay a family through this."

I slipped my hand into his and our fingers entwined, and we took our time walking back to the house.

As we did, I stared at it and thought about all of us living in it as a family. Like Derek's old family, in his old house.

I prayed to the gods I no longer believed in that our new family wouldn't meet the same grisly end.


	22. Forming A Plan

_"What?!"_ Tyler looked amazed and horrified. "Five _dozen_ of them? We're all gonna die!"

"Calm down Tyler...We don't have any way of disproving what he said, so until we do, we're just **assuming** he was right. But just because we're outnumbered doesn't mean we're not gonna fight."

"He took down three of us no problem. 70 of them will kill the entire _town,_ no problem at all."

I sighed deeply. All of the wolves plus Scott, Stiles, Rachel, Kay, and Skylar were here in the dining room of the house, gathered around the long

dining table. Derek and I were seated at the head, with little Derek in his arms. I'd also invited the hunters along, but they hadn't arrived yet.

I looked at Tyler's brother and my other cousin, Danny, as he started to speak. "Ian...I think my bro is right. We couldn't go up against one of them. How are we supposed to go up against 70+?"

"I...don't know. Anybody have any ideas?" I looked around the silent table. "Great."

"You could turn some of us." I zeroed in on Skylar's voice. I hadn't expected him to be the one to come up with an idea. "If we have more of us, it'll be less of an advantage to them."

"But I can't bite people...They would just die..." my eyes shifted to Kay, who was sitting halfway down the table and looking rather pale. "Something else."

"I didn't mean you bite people...Him." Skylar pointed to Derek. "Or him." Now he pointed to Peter. "If you turn people into wolves first, then into shapeshifters, wouldn't that work?"

"It could..." I looked at the three humans sitting around the table. Skylar, Stiles, and Rachel. "But there's a risk. There's a possibility the wolf bite could kill you, and if you survive that, my bite could kill you...Become wolves, I don't care, but I'm not taking the risk of killing you."

"Ian." I looked beside me at Derek. "We have to look at every possibility."

"I am. Just not that one." I heard the sound of a car and the crunching of the gravel driveway. "They're here. Everyone stay here."

There was a chorus of "Who's here?" as I left the room and went to the front of the house. The doors on three black SUVs opened as I stopped off the porch.

Chris Argent strode up to me and said "Ian. Is everyone else already here?"

"Yes." I looked down at his hand resting on the gun strapped to his waist. "And I suggest you don't be so hasty with pulling out the weapons. We do have humans here too. And my infant."

"We realize that, but with a house full of werewolves and, you, we have to be prepared. What's been said already?"

"We're trying to figure out how to deal with their massive numbers. Five dozen, at least." He grimaced and cursed loudly. "Or so their 'leader,' Daniel, says. The human Skylar came up with a feasible plan, but it is one I don't like and I'm sure neither would you."

"What is it?"

"You remember what I told you, about how a shifter can turn a wolf?" He nodded. "He thinks Derek should bite several humans and then have me turn them into shifters, and the wolves we already have." He looked horrified. "I said no, but I'm not denying that we do need more help. Even if we don't have more shifters, we need more wolves. We just don't have enough strength right now."

"That's for dâmned sure...We can have our numbers help you."

"Thanks, but I have a feeling it still won't be enough...I just came to...proposition you." He raised an eyebrow. "I need a guarantee that if we do create more wolves, your numbers won't start attacking us. I know it's in your laws to try to keep us from doing that, but it's something we need. And you know it."

"I can promise you that none of us will attack. My wife and daughter may not be so keen on the idea, but they have to accept it. Even they are starting to realize the magnitude of the situation." I nodded.

"Then you and your men can come inside. Keeping your weapons away." I turned and led them inside the house, filling the dining table and the surrounding room. I returned to the place at the head of the table, noting how every wolf in the room, including my fiancé, looked around nervously at the hunters that now outnumbered us. "The head of the hunters seems to think Skylar's idea is a good one."

Chris Argent stood, down by the other end of the table. "It is in our laws to try to prevent the making of any more wolves if we can, but neither us nor you have the necessary strength or numbers to defend ourselves. So we'll...overlook the making of a few new wolves. A few only."

There were murmurs of discontent from his followers, but they stayed mostly silent. I looked at our people, and they looked nervous, but none of them objected. I sighed.

"I guess that's what we'll do then...But only to people who voluntarily want the bite. And you Peter," He looked up. "you don't get to bite anyone."

"Why? Still don't trust me?"

"No. You can help us, but if I find out you so much as nicked someone with your claws, you're going back in that ground. Alive." He smirked and I felt my claws unsheathe from my fingertips. "Keep testing me, watch what happens..."

"Okay, if that's enough of that..." Derek handed the baby to Rachel beside him and stood beside me. "Of the humans, here, how many of you are willing to be bit? Risk death, yeah, but you could be a wolf. Who wants to take the risk?"

There was silence and almost no movement. I sighed as I thought nobody would want to be bit, until a shaky hand was raised.

I stared at Stiles, sitting beside Scott, and at his raised hand. Soon after, Skylar raised his hand, and so did Rachel. None of the hunters did though, which I almost expected.

"Three...Three more wolves isn't gonna do us much good. Either some of you precious hunter volunteer, or we have to go to town and look for volunteers." None of the hunters reacted. "I guess we go through town then."

Chris Argent spoke up. "Where do you intend to go? And who do you intend to turn, exactly?"

"We don't know yet. But I can go around, find the best candidates...The school would be best. Angsty young teenagers that've been rejected by everyone else...It's the perfect pool to draw from." Where I got that metaphor, I had no idea. "I can accompany Scott and Stiles to school, and scout out potential people."

"And how exactly are you going to do that? You're finished with school."

"People go back and visit their old high schools all the time. And I know where all the loner hangout spots are, so it shouldn't be that hard to find at least one suitable person."

Someone down the table asked "Why a loner person?"

"Because those so called 'popular' people would abuse the bite, just like they abuse their rank over others in the school. Besides, people left out from society tend to have a better outlook, and can make better decisions. Almost every single one of the wolves in this room was like that, including myself. So unless anyone has anything else to say, I suggest you all leave."

Nobody said anything, and the hunters immediately started filing out. Chris Argent stuck behind for a little bit, though.

"I don't suppose the rest of them will be very happy with this, but they don't have a choice but to accept it. If you do find people, let me know before you bite them. We need to know exactly how many we're gonna have to keep track of once this is all over."

"Keep track of, or kill?" He shrugged.

"That depends on who you pick." He turned and walked out then, and I dropped into my chair.

Everything was just one endless problem after another now. I looked over at Derek, who was taking the baby back from Rachel, and wished everything could go back to normal. I wished Jakob and the shapshifters would've never happened, I wished my mom and dad were still alive, I wish there was a safe place Derek and I could raise our baby without fear of him being killed or taken.

I couldn't believe I was even _thinking_ this, but I missed how things were before Beacon Hills. Even if I didn't have my parents, I had a sense of normalcy.

"Ian?" I looked up at Derek, noticing the others had left the room. "You're not okay." It wasn't a question.

"No...I...Nevermind, it doesn't matter...What matters is finding people to help us beat these shapeshifters."

"You know, you're not as good a liar as you think you are..." I raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Your heart still flutters every time you lie. I don't need to have my ear to your chest to hear it. And even if I couldn't hear it, I can tell something's wrong."

"Well, I guess I'll have to work on that lying, now won't I? Nobody, not even you, wants or needs to know what I'm thinking...You'd hate me for it anyway..."

"Why?" I almost glared up at him.

"Because...Because I miss the way things used to be. Not with you, I miss how they were before you. I miss how my life was before Beacon Hills. Before I knew I was a wolf or a shapeshifter, back when I lived in Westwood. My parents might've been dead, but I didn't have someone trying to come kill me every five fûçking minutes. I had a nice routine, a nice normal life, a safe life. I miss that. I just...I wish we had some place like that. Where nobody bothered us or little Derek ever again."

Derek sighed and sat back down beside me. The baby stared up at me with his big green eyes that exactly resembled his fathers, and I wanted to kick myself. How could I ever wish for all of this to go away with him here? He was my life now. Him and his father.

"I...understand...Sometimes I wish things could go back to the way they were before Scott turned and my sister died, or even back when I was in high school, before my family burned...But we're here now and we can't go back, so we have to stick with what we've got. Besides...Would you really wanna go back and give this up?" He held his arms out with little Derek in them.

"No..." I took the baby and held him in my arms. "If I had the chance to trade everything we have here to get back everything we had...I don't think I'd be able to do it. Plus you're just too dâmned cute to let go of." I poked at little Derek's stomach and he gave me a toothless smile. "How did we ever make such a beautiful baby anyway? He's too good looking to come from either of us."

Derek laughed. "What d'you mean? He looks exactly like you. With my eyes."

"He doesn't look like me at all, he looks like you. Except the hair...And he's gonna look exactly like you when he grows up, I know it."

"Probably...But if you're that jealous, then we can just have a girl that will look exactly like you." I raised an eyebrow. "Look at how easily you've become a mother. I think you'd easily be able to handle one or two more."

I shook my head, laughing. "My body hasn't even begun to get back to normal from having little Derek, plus we're still in the midst of a whole _bunch_ of shît. I think another baby should definitely be moved down on the waiting list of things we want."

"Well, knowing you'll eventually want another one is enough...I did say I'd try to give you everything you want." I smiled.

"I remember...And what I want right now is dinner. Derek Jr. and I are very hungry, right?" The baby gave me another toothless smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You three really ready to do this?" I stood, staring at Stiles, Skylar, and especially at Rachel. We were on the back porch of the house, they were sitting in the chairs there, and I was standing, leaning against the small railing that ran around the porch. "Well?"

"Count me in." I nodded at Skylar and turned to Stiles."

"Sure, why not? It's not like it might kill me."

"You volunteered for this, remember? Anyway...Rachel? You still sure you wanna do this?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I'll give you guys whatever help I can."

I nodded. "Okay then. Derek." The back door opened and he appeared, his outfit for this particular day dark jeans and a black button-down with the sleeves rolled up that I'd never seen him wear. I shook my head, remembering to save those thoughts for later. Right now was serious.

"Don't scream or cry or beg to take it back, because once I bite you, there's no turning it around. If you turn, you'll heal and be fine. If not...well, you all know what happens. Hold out your arms, it's the easiest place to bite."

They held out their arms, Stiles rolling up his hoodie sleeve, but before Derek could go wolf, I held up a hand.

I kneeled down beside Rachel and said "You're the only one that hasn't seen a full wolf face...Try not to freak out, okay?" She nodded.

"I'll try..." Her voice didn't sound too convincing, so I took her outstretched hand in mine. She smiled gratefully. "Thanks."

I looked up at Derek and nodded, and his face began to change. His mouth widened and opened to reveal his enlarging canines, and his eyes went Alpha red as the rest of his face contorted and changed. I felt Rachel's grip on me tighten as she stared frighteningly up at Derek's wolf face. She didn't back out of it, though.

She did jump a bit as Stiles yelped in pain as Derek sunk those canines into his arm.

"God-dâmmit...What the hêll?!"

"I'll bite you somewhere else if you don't shut up."

Stiles scrambled out of the way and into the house as Derek moved on to Skylar. Skylar didn't yelp with pain, only tense and let out a little grunt before nodding and following Stiles inside.

Rachel closed her eyes and squeezed all her muscles and forced out "Just do it already." When he bit her, she screamed quietly and gripped me tightly with both hands and, if I wasn't a shifter, I knew I would've been reeling in pain from her fingers digging hard into my skin.

When it was done, Derek stood up and said "Why don't you get inside, cover that with a bandage...We'll check on it tomorrow to see if it worked." Rachel nodded and finally let go of me and went inside.

I took her place in the chair and leaned back, and Derek said "Ian, you're bleeding." I lifted my right arm up, the one Rachel had been holding onto, and examined it. There were crescent shapes that I knew would match her nails and fingertips dug into my skin, cutting into my blood vessels.

"It's nothing...She was just holding on really tight, is all. I'll be fine."

"Still...At least wipe up the blood. Here." He took a napkin from his pocket and handed it to me. "Thought we might have a little mess or two."

"Didn't think it'd be on me though, huh?" I folded it and put it on my wounds, knowing they'd be healed in a matter of minutes. If that. "I really hope they turn..."

"Well, even if they do, we still have to think about letting you bite them. I know you said you didn't want to, but if they volunteer, there's not much we can say."

"I know...are we sure it'd even work? That Daniel wasn't lying?" He shrugged.

"My uncle knows a lot about them, and he seems to think he was telling the truth, so it probably was the truth. I wonder if any of the shifters in his group were wolves that got turned..."

"Yeah..."

Wondering about all these shifters and wolves, it got me thinking.

"I know he also said a wolf bite would kill a shifter, but..." He raised an eyebrow. "What if you would bite Kay?"

"Why would I do that?! She's already dying."

I could hear the concern in his voice and knew he didn't just think of her as my friend anymore. He was starting to think of her as family too.

"But if you give her the wolf bite, it'll start to turn her and make the shifter bite not kill her but turn her into a shifter instead. Or the two venoms will just cancel each other out."

"What if it doesn't work? What if she just dies?"

"Derek...If we don't try this, she'll die anyway. I'm not ready to lose the best sister I've ever had just yet...You of anyone can understand just how much I wanna save her."

He nodded. "We'll try it. Tomorrow. For tonight, we'll just sit back and see if the wolves we've already made make it through the night..."


	23. New Recruits

"So, how do you feel?"

"Like...I don't know! Jesus, or something!" I chuckled at Stiles' reaction to his new found powers. We were in the backyard of his house, and Derek was sitting inside with the baby, talking to Stiles' dad about the bite. "Is this how it always feels for you?"

"Pretty much." He sped around his backyard at top speed, bouncing off the fence, tree, house, and everything in between. "You get used to the heightened senses after awhile, though, and learn to control it all. Like Scott did, after a few weeks."

"If I'd have known it would be like this...I woulda done it a long time ago...Wait." He stopped in the middle of the yard. "I don't have to be in _Derek's_ pack, do I?"

From just inside the house, we both heard a loud "You're dâmn right you do!" and Stiles groaned. I just laughed at him.

"It's either Derek or Peter."

"Not you?" I shook my head.

"I already have Danny and Tyler following me. Derek only has Scott, and Peter doesn't have anyone. If we want to have both of them at top power, they need wolves in their packs, not mine."

"I thought you weren't going to let him have anyone." I shrugged.

"While we're waiting to see if Kay survives, we're letting him try to recruit any of you three we just bit. Like I said, it's only so we can have everyone at their strongest. And if he tries anything, I can always attack him myself."

"Sure...So, should we be getting going or not?" I nodded. "Then come _on._ I didn't get my âss up an hour early just so we could stand here and talk."

"Calm your âss Stiles, we still have an hour till school starts...And it's not like you actually want to be there anyway. Just go wait out front." He went around the side of his house to the front and I went in the back door.

Derek was sitting at the

kitchen table holding the baby, and Stiles' dad had disappeared.

"So, am I allowed to hold my baby before I go off for an unnecessary day of school?" Derek turned his grinning face towards me.

"Of course. He's been asking for you." I held my arms out for the warm, blanket-wrapped bundle that was little Derek. His tan-skinned, green-eyed face smiled up at me, and I saw the beginnings of a first tooth already scratching at his gums. "He's been wanting you a lot more lately."

"Because he probably senses what's gonna come in the next week or two..."

_Are you alright my little Derek Jr? I know I've been very busy lately..._

_It's okay. I know you and Daddy are really worried about the shapeshifters. Am I gonna be a shapeshifter?_

_Yes, probably...Though we'll have to wait until you're a little older to tell for sure._

_I don't want to be a shapeshifter if it means I have to be bad. I wanna be a wolf, just like Daddy._

I felt wetness on my cheek and knew a tear must've dripped down from my eye.

"Ian?!"

"I'm okay, don't worry...Just something the baby said to me...He said he didn't wanna be a shifter if he had to be evil, that he wanted to be a wolf just like you."

Derek smiled softly. "At least we know he wants to grow up good, not like the rest of those shifter bâstârds...but why the tears?"

I wiped at my face with my free hand and said "He's growing up too fast...He's only a few weeks old, yet has the mental capacity to understand that we both might die in the next 14 days. That's not normal. It's not _right._ I want the time to watch him grow up and develop and if this keeps going, I'll barely have a decade with him before he's full grown."

"Ian, take a deep breath, and just calm down. Mentally, yes, he's growing fast. But he's physically the same as any other month-old baby. So just _calm down_ a bit, will you?"

I inhaled deep and said "I'll try." I bent my head to kiss little Derek on the forehead and said "Mommy will be right back for you as soon as I'm done doing this." I handed him off to Derek and said "And I'll be back for you too."

"Now _there's_ the Ian I like to see." I chuckled a bit and leaned in for a kiss, and his free hand came around my neck to hold me there for several seconds. When he let me go he said "For encouragement."

"Well, I'm encouraged, so thanks. Bye."

I turned and, despite the tight knot tying itself in my stomach, continued on out the front door of the house.

Stiles was waiting in his Jeep for me, and we didn't say anything to each other when I got in. It was a silent ride over to the school too, but once we got there, I said "Wait, shouldn't you have picked up Scott?"

"He's getting a ride from Allison today..." I noticed the disdain in Stiles' voice.

"You're jealous of them, aren't you?"

"How can I not be?! They have a perfect freaking relationship that's lasted through all this crâp, and both of the chicks I've wanted to be with barely even know I exist..."

Both..? I groaned.

"You know, had you said something earlier..." He barked a laugh. "What's so funny?"

"There was never a chance for me! You went right for Derek like a wolf in heat, barely even gave me a sideways glance. Before we knew it, you were together and pregnant and engaged and living together. Leaving me behind, _yet again."_

It took me a moment or two to gather up my words. And when I did, I was pissed.

"I didn't go to him just because he was good-looking or better than you, both of which are true." Stiles frowned. "I went for him because he helped me. I didn't know what I was before, but he helped me to find out and to control it, and didn't give me any crâp about it. You and Scott treated me like a child that didn't know how the world worked, and _that's_ why I wouldn't have picked you, even if Derek wasn't here."

"Sure you wouldn't have..."

I groaned and got out of the Jeep, and slammed the door. "I'm going to the front office to sign in. You wait for Scott's âss to get here and you get to class, and I'll be there to scout people out. And here." I dug into my pocket and produced a small spray bottle I tossed to him. "If you start to change, use this."

"What is it?"

"It's a medicine that will slow down your heartbeat if you start to change. One or two sprays in your mouth should be good."

As I turned to go, he gave me a tentative "Thanks..."

I went in the front doors of the school and to the office, where the little brunette secretary was chatting away on the office phone. I waved my hand by her face and she held a finger up to me, signaling me to wait.

I reached over and pressed the hook switch to hang up her call, and she glared up at me.

"May I _help_ you?"

"I'm here to see . He should have me listed down as Ian Hale."

The snooty woman said "One moment please."

She picked up the office phone again and dialed a four-digit number, and had a hurried conversation with the voice I recognized as '.

Not wanting to sound too self-fulfilled, because I already heard him confirm who I was, I asked "So, did he remember our appointment?"

"Yes..." She scribbled on something, a Visitor's Pass, and handed it to me. "Just wear this, and return it to the office whenever you leave the school. I assume you know how to get to the classroom?"

"I do. No thanks to an unreliable, waste-of-space secretary like you." Her shocked face stared after me as I left the office, just as the students were being let in.

A lot more stares followed me as I made my way to the classroom, and so did the usual whispers. I chuckled a bit at the childishness of most of them.

_Wasn't she pregnant? Did she have the baby already?_

_I heard she hangs out with a bunch of losers and never leaves her house._

_I heard she turned into a whore._

I laughed just because I knew how wrong they all were. If they knew the kind of joy Derek and our perfect son brought me, they wouldn't dare make fun of me. But that was the way stupid high-schoolers were, and why I was glad I'd gotten out when I did.

I made it to the classroom just as the 5-minute warning bell was ringing, and went over to ' desk. He looked up at me and said "Something told me you would break your appointment. What exactly is this for?"

"Oh, just a bit of business you don't need to worry yourself over..." I leaned closer in and, pulling at the Alpha under the surface of my skin, said in a low growl "You've meddled in our business too much already."

He jumped back, looking like he'd seen a ghost. "You...you're one of _them."_

I shrugged. "Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. But you won't interfere with what I'm doing, or you'll suffer a much more painful fate than those you helped **burn.** Do we have an understanding?" He nodded, his glasses almost falling off his face. "Good. I'll be sitting in the back of the room for today."

As I made my way to the back corner of the room, I grinned to myself, thinking of just how much of a Derek thing that was to say. I loved being engaged to the most badâss guy within 1,000 miles of Beacon Hills. Maybe even the country.

I sat and watched the students pour in, most at the last second. Scott and Stiles came in very last, just as the bell was ringing, and took their seats. Scott stared back at me, but didn't ask anything. He knew why I was here.

As began his lesson, I slipped my headphones in my ears, to deafen the sounds of everyone's whispers and the sounds from other classrooms and outside. It only dulled the noise, not blocked it out, because of my super sensitive hearing, but it was good enough for me.

Past the sound of Amy Lee singing Bring Me To Life, I could hear the muted chatting of almost every student in the classroom, some directed at each other or the teacher, and some at me. Some kids didn't know who I was, and aske dot hers, who would tell their own versions of my fall from grace.

One was particularly gruesome, by some kid I didn't know, not that I needed to. He was whispering about my rumored 'being a prostitute' when another kid sitting behind them said "Just shut up guys...You don't even know what the hêll you're talking about."

The one that'd done the whispering, a jock, I could tell, said "And watcha gonna do about it Lahey?" When the kid didn't respond, he said "Exactly."

Âsshôle kids...

I picked up a stray eraser from the table before me and held it up, and flicked it at the back of the jerk kids neck.

"What the..?!" He whipped his head around, looking for the source of the tiny attack, and I waved my hand at him with a pasted-on smile. Through my music and the giggles of the kids beside him and the one he called Lahey, I heard him mutter "Freak..."

In a low voice, I leaned over and said "You really have no idea kid."

"I knew what everyone said about you was true...You're a fûçkin' weirdo."

"Again, you have _no_ idea." The _no_ came out as a growl, and the kid almost came out of his seat.

looked up from his desk, muttered "Idiots..." and looked back down at whatever he was doing. I simply smiled and leaned back in my seat, content with what I'd done.

I did stare at the kid Lahey for a while though. Defending someone he didn't know, definitely something I was here looking for. I'd have to ask Scott about him later.

Another kid in the class I didn't like, Jackson, kept staring back at me too. I didn't bother worrying about him, I knew his whole story now. And I knew he was jealous because we had the one thing he couldn't buy with all his money: the werewolf bite. He didn't known exactly what I was, but I was with Derek and Scott all the time, so I knew even someone like him could make a good guess.

When class was over, Scott and Stiles lingered, waiting for me to follow them out. I did and in the hall I asked "That kid, Lahey, who is he?"

"Isaac?" I looked at Scott. "He's on the lacrosse team, doesn't get to play that much. Nobody really knows anything about him, except that he lives with just his dad, and doesn't talk to many other people. Why?"

"Remember why I'm here Scott. Scouting for good werewolf candidates. This Lahey have any other classes with you?"

"Gym with me and Stiles, and lunch. And History with Stiles too."

I looked at Stiles. "Yeah, we sit at the same table too...So why not invade the class?"

"Don't joke around like that. You know what's at stake if we don't find some good people. I'm gonna follow this Isaac guy to his next class, and I'll meet you in your History class, okay Stiles?"

"Yeah...Let's go Scott..." They walked away from me and I turned in the direction that Isaac kid went.

I followed his scent down a few halls and up a flight of stairs to the hallway where most of the math classes were held, and into the last room on the left. I'd never been in it, but I'd been past a few times going to my own math class.

I went to the teacher and told him who I was, and he told me to sit in the back of the room. Again, right near you-know-who.

As the lesson began, a low voice said "Weren't you just in my last period?" I glanced at the next table over, at Isaac. "Yeah, you were definitely there. Are you following me or something?"

I shrugged. "Maybe I am. Shouldn't you be paying attention to your geometry teacher or something?"

"Try pre-calculus. Now who the hêll are you?"

"You can call me a friend...one who wants to talk to you privately."

He scooted a seat closer to me and leaned across the aisle. "It's pretty private back here. So who're you?"

I chuckled. "And with the way you defended me downstairs, I would've though you knew who I was. Scoot your âss over another seat and I'll tell you." He glanced up at the teacher, who wasn't paying attention, and moved him stuff over to my table and sat beside me. "I went here a few months ago, but decidedly quit and got a GED."

"Then why are you here right now?"

"Looking for people...There's a bit of a group I'm involved in, and we need a few more members, to defend against a rival...group." Isaac scoffed. "It's no joke kid, trust me."

"Sure does sound like one. How do I know you're not lying?"

"That kid that was muttering about me? Hit the back of his neck with an eraser from 8 feet away."

"Not very impressive."

"What if I told you I could do it from thirty feet away?" Another scoff. "Guess it's a challenge." I held out my hand and he dropped a whole eraser in it.

"Do this, and I might believe you."

I glanced out the window across the room. It was open, and sitting in the midst of the tree branches outside it, was a large black bird.

"Look out the window." He did and I launched the little projectile, and an instant later the bird dropped like a stone from the tree. The student sitting by the window jumped up and looked, and I just sat back in my seat. "And that's not all I can do."

"Maybe it's not...What else?"

"That's something you can only find out if you decide to join me. I'll give you 'til the end of the school day to think about it."

"Only today?"

"I told you, I need people right now. Either you're in or you're not. If you need me, ask your buddies Scott or Stiles."

I stood up, nodding at the teacher as I passed him on my way out of the classroom.

That was a lot easier than I though. I kill a bird from 30 feet away, and the kid's interested. But this was a smart one, I could tell. So maybe it'd be worth it in the end.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ian...how bad of you to be using your phone during the school day. You should be punished."

"Ha ha ha, very funny Derek...I think I found one or two kids that want to make the change." I looked across the gym floor at the group of kids huddled around the teacher. Scott, Stiles, and the two kids I'd begun to recruit were there. "Both guys, both juniors, and both pretty good people, according to our boys Scott and Stiles."

"Well, they're notoriously unreliable, so did you check these two out for yourself?"

I chuckled. "Of course I did. I followed them both around, talked to them, told 'em a little about what they'd be involved in. I told them they could learn the rest if they joined us, gave 'em 'til the end of the day today to decide."

"Sound alike I should've had you go out and look for people a long time ago. If you think they're ready, then bring them here. I'll make sure you cousins and friends stay in the house, and we can do this outside."

"Sounds like a plan. Before I go, how's my son doing?"

"You mean _our_ son...And he's been eating almost nonstop for the last hour...I think he wants the real thing, not these dumb little bottles." I laughed a bit.

"Well, he'll get them when I get home, and so will you, because I already knows that's what you're gonna say next. So just huddle down and wait one more tiny little hour for me, and you'll both be satisfied."

"Did I ever tell you how much I love you when you're like this? It makes me wanna rip off your clothes and..."

"Goodbye Derek." I hung up, laughing to myself, and turned my attention back to the group of people before me.

Isaac Lahey, the jock reject, and Danny, Jackson's best friend and actually a good guy. I hadn't told Scott or Stiles about my second choice, purely because of how they would react. I knew they both hated Jackson, and Danny for hanging out with him, but they'd have to get over it.

Danny. Daniel. Danny. What was with all these people having the same goddâmned names, anyway?

I shook that off and focused on the moment at hand. I was sitting across the gymnasium from two potential werewolves. I had asked Scott and Stiles about them and asked the two themselves, now it was time to do some real digging.

I used my mind powers to reach out and touch Isaac's mind first. I switched from person to person until I found the right one, the one staring my way.

I knew he felt me digging around in his head, so I said _It's time for me to see if you've been telling me the truth. Don't bother trying to hide anything inside your head._ He simply nodded and turned back to what he was doing.

I probed into his thoughts first. They ranged from _I really hate this school_ to _If I could go back with my mom, I would do it in a heartbeat_ to _Oh shît, I hope Ian didn't hear that...Shît._

And there was my clue. I began digging into Isaac's memories, delicately, sensing there was something I probably didn't want to see.

What I saw was _horrible._ Not just stuff about missing his mom or hating his dad, but **bad** stuff. Through Isaac's eyes, I saw images of his father beating him with a belt, his fist, kicking him, even being dragged down somewhere dark...the basement. And being locked in...some kind of box? An old freezer maybe? And there was a lot of those memories.

Jeez, what'd happened for this kid's dad to _do_ that to him?

When I switched over to delving through Danny's mind, it was almost a relief. His life was so much more simple, and a lot more happy. No beatings, no screaming at least not up until the last few months or so. His parents, they were yelling...or crying? About...him being gay?!

Wow. That was certainly something I didn't have a clue about before.

But I saw that Danny indeed was a good guy too. Hadn't done anything bad, always treated people right, everybody liked him.

Guess I had made two good choices after all.

The teacher blew his whistle and everyone headed for the locker rooms to change, and both Danny and Isaac came up to me.

"Sorry for digging around in your heads...I had to find out if what you were telling me was true."

"So that's what it was..." Danny sighed. "It felt like something was poking around in my head...Will we be able to do that? If we do this change?" I shook my head.

"No, only I can do that...me and my son." They both went 'ohhhh...' "Yes, I really do have a son, if you've been wondering about what people are saying. And I have a lot more than that, all of which you'll see if you say yes...Which reminds me...It's the end of the day. I told you to make your decisions by now."

They both looked nervously at each other, then at me.

Isaac spoke up first. "I think...I wanna do it. I don't want to keep having _that_ happen to me every dâmn day...So yeah, I'm doing it." I nodded.

"Danny? Are you going to do it too?"

"Will I still be able to play lacrosse?" I nodded. "Go to school? Other...stuff?" I nodded again.

"It'll be a bit before you learn to fully control yourself, but after that, everything will be almost normal again. Almost."

"Then...I guess I'll do it. When will we have to...get bit, anyway?"

"Tonight. You come to my house, we do it outside, sway from everyone else."

"Wait, how many other wolves are there?"

"Shh! Not so loud, geez...7. For now. And they'll all be at your disposal, if you need help or get into trouble with your change."

Isaac and Danny both nodded before going into the locker room.

I pulled my phone out and texted _Be at the school in 10 minutes, bringing the two new ones to the house. They both said yes._

I got a reply less than a minute later that read _I'll be there, leaving baby with Rachel._

I tapped my phone against my leg, wondering how this would all turn out, if it would even work at all. A thousand bad scenarios flashed through my mind, each worse than the last. But I had to focus, keep my eyes dead-set on the one good outcome we were all hoping for.

That our tiny numbers would somehow be able to defeat all the shifters gathered in town, and me, Derek, and the baby would finally be able to live in peace, and maybe raise the rest of that family I knew he wanted.

It was a long shot, though. A very long shot.


	24. Grim Prospects

Things weren't looking good...They weren't looking good at _all._

I don't know why I even agreed to let Derek bite two strangers, when I'd barely given them a day to consider it! One of them, Isaac, has successfully turned, but Jackson's friend Danny...

I didn't even want to think about him laying down at the hospital, slowly dying in some random fluorescent-lit room. He hadn't taken to the bite, and now we had no way of fixing him. He would die in the next few days, Derek and Peter had both assured me of that.

"What do you want?" I turned go look at Stiles, who'd just gotten to the back door. Even though he had the agility of a wolf now, I'd heard him coming way off, just like I heard everyone else in the house.

"Your...fiancé wants you. He's upstairs." I stared at Stiles until he became uncomfortable and retreated back into the house, before getting up myself. I'd been sitting on the back porch for hours, watching the pale gray clouds blanketing the sky twist and turn.

I ignored the stares of my cousins and the new wolves as I went through the house and up to my bedroom, where Derek was sitting on the bed, alone.

"Where's the baby?"

"Kay, Rachel, and Scott took him to see Scott's mom for a checkup..." I smiled, only briefly, at Derek's mention of Kay. Our last-ditch effort to save her had worked, but it was not an even trade. She was a shifter now. "I told them to call if anything went wrong, and that we'd be having a big dinner for everyone when they got back."

"Why would you do that?" Despite his somber face and my own, I saw a smile hiding behind his green eyes. "Is there something I should know..?"

"Oh, not much...I just thought you would've remembered our 6 month anniversary."

I looked at him oddly. "What? That isn't today..." Upon trying to think back, I discovered I actually had no idea what day it was.

"Six months ago today, on June 19th...Depending on when you count us as '

dating.' I like to think of that first time at my house as the start." I felt my cheeks burn red.

"Wait a minute!" I wanted to punch myself. Hard. "Not only is it our anniversary, but it's Christmas in six days...Six days!" I had no idea that much time had passed already! "What the hêll..?"

"You've been so busy with all this wolf stuff lately...But I knew this was important to you."

I sighed and sat on the bed beside Derek. "It doesn't matter, we can't do anything today anyway...There's too much to take care of."

"That's why I sent your friends with little Derek today, and I've got your cousins and Skylar already started on making dinner." I barked out a laugh. "I tested them before they started, they'll be fine. Hopefully."

"You know..." I held back the half-sob/half-chuckle that rose in my throat. "You're starting to sound a lot like I did. Having faith in everyone, keeping your temper under control, willing to take a bit of a risk...What happened to _my_ Derek?"

He smiled. "He's not gone, just waiting for another opportunity to strike."

"Like in the shower..?" Derek's answering grin confirmed it. "You've managed to make me forget how pitiful my life is for five minutes, so what are we gonna do for our six-month anniversary?"

He scooted off the bed and said "You'll see. Let's go." There was a gruff tone to that **Let's go,** and it reminded me of old, mean Derek again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I recognized where we were going even before we were halfway there. The smell of decay soon wafted through the air, and Hale House came into view.

Derek stopped in the driveway just short of the front stairs, and I said "What are we doing here?"

"Just come." Derek's voice was full-on old Derek again. I hadn't heard that fierce, sullen tone since I had first met Derek, when I hated him and he hated me. I missed it in a weird way, because even though I told Derek I liked him the way he was, he'd changed. Mostly because of the baby, I knew.

I got out of the car and we made our way inside the house. I saw that the floorboards had been repaired, and except for the slight smell of corpse that still emanated from the ground, there were almost no traces of Peter here. I stood before the dingy old couch in the front room and watched Derek.

He seemed to be examining the ruined walls of his old home, and I guessed that it brought back a lifetime of memories for him. His family, his friends, his once normal life, and then the fire. Any semblance of normalcy Derek once had was destroyed by that one incident, all because of a stupid hunter.

"I thought my life was over...My whole family died. My cousins, my aunts and uncle, my dad and mom..." When he said mom, I instinctively fingered the wolf pendant that still hung around my neck, even after all we'd been through since he'd given it to me. I'd never once willingly took it off. "Even when my uncle Peter killed those people and I had to help Scott, I still felt dead inside...I never thought I'd ever begin to heal."

Derek turned to face me, and I witnessed something I'd never seen before. His amazing green eyes were watery, as if he would start crying at any moment. Tears appeared in my eyes as well, though I didn't know exactly why.

"When you came, I didn't know what to think. Everyone since my family died had pushed me away and tried pushing me around, so I just pushed them all away myself. You come and I try my best to keep you away, yet the first night you hug me and told me everything would be alright. I'd always wanted to believe that, but I never did; not until you told me."

I choked back the threatening tears; it was Derek's turn to be emotional, to let go of things, to cry. And so I would let him.

"You have no idea how much you changed things for me...I probably would've given up on everything if you hadn't helped me."

He stepped up to me and I drew in a deep breath, trying to keep myself from sobbing. "Derek...I knew that talking and trying to forget the past just wouldn't do it for you. Me, better than anybody except probably you, knows how truly devastating losing your family is...You couldn't even begin to forget about your past until you had a new, better future ahead of you. I guess I'm kinda the same way...I might've seemed happy and all when I first got here, but I really wasn't. But I'm happy **now."**

"Me too...I don't want to forget about my past, that's what made me...But you make it _so much_ easier to just focus on now and the future. You're a wonderful, beautiful fiancée and you've given me my only son. You two are my _whole life_ now."

"You're my whole life too." I was unable to hold back the tears now, and they spilled from my eyes unhindered. I saw a few tears escape from the corners of Derek's green eyes too, and I hurriedly wiped them away for him. "If you or little Derek ever left me..."

I didn't have to say it; Derek understood what I meant. His illustrious eyes were shining with the same emotions I knew he saw in mine, and a decade of horrible memories lurked behind those emotions.

I reached up and touched his face, and my mind unwittingly reached into the depths of his. A flash of red and orange burned through my mind for a millisecond, and I instinctively wrenched my hand away form his face. Derek immediately became worried.

"Ian? What happened?"

"I saw...the fire. In your head." His eyes widened. "The whole house was in flames, I could hear..." The faint echo of a woman's scream resounded in my head, and I shuddered violently. "That was your mom, wasn't it?"

Derek sighed; he knew which memory I had seen.

"Yes...By the time I got there, the fire was too big for anyone to go in and try to rescue my family...My mom was upstairs with one of my cousins, giving her a bath...They both burned in the master bathroom."

"Oh god...I'm so sorry Derek..." I hugged him tightly, and felt him hug me back. I didn't know you were actually there when they died..."

"It was a long time ago...All I'm worried about is making sure it doesn't happen ever again." I pulled back and saw the desperation and distress evident on his face. "We're going to kill these shifters, and we will have that big family and amazing life I promised you."

There was a stirring somewhere within me, and it provoked me to delve into Derek's memories again. This time, there was no fire, flames, or death; there was happiness. I saw Derek and I standing at the altar of a church, with him in a tux and me in a brilliant white wedding dress. The next memory was of a toddler-sized little Derek clinging onto his dad's back as he pushed a swollen me around in a wheelchair, in what looked like the hospital. That morphed into a delivery room scene, with both of my Dereks at my bedside as I held a tightly wrapped pink bundle in my arms; a beautiful little baby girl.

These continued on to our two children growing into rowdy young kids, then another hospital scene, this time with us having another son. After that was playing sports and games with them, sending them off to school, graduations, living alone while our kids went off to live their lives, and Derek and me growing old together in our big, empty house in the woods.

When I pulled out of Derek's mind, his lips were on mine, and I was startled for only a moment. He released and I said "You...you really did plan our whole future out together. Oh _Derek."_

"I told you, I'm not gonna let anyone else have you." I put my mouth back to his, and after a startled chuckle, he responded enthusiastically.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ian! Derek!" I pulled away from the phone as Kay's high pitched voice screamed into the phone. "Is anyone there?!"

"Kay, what's wrong? Is the baby okay?!" As soon as Derek heard me say this, he jumped up off the couch and started pulling his clothes on, and threw me mine.

"Yeah, he's okay, for now! Rachel just looked out the window and saw someone with white hair, and she thought it was you, but I went and looked...It's Daniel! That guy that attacked me at the house!"

**What?!"**

"Yeah! And it looks like he has some other people with him too!"

"Make sure Scott, his mom, and Rachel are all in the room with you, okay? Derek ad I will b there in a few minutes." I hung up and pulled on my clothes in a hurry. "Rachel says Daniel and some other shifters are there at the hospital."

"What?!"

"We need to get there now. Call Peter and have him meet us there." Derek nodded and pulled out his phone as we ran to the car. I prayed that Peter would be as cooperative right now as he had been the last few weeks. I didn't want to risk bringing all of the new wolves with us, because they were so inexperienced and wouldn't help much if it came down to a fight. It would already be a danger to have Rachel there.

Derek sped to the hospital a fast as he could, and texted Peter to meet us at the hospital.

"Why the _héll_ would they go to the hospital now?"

"Because we're not there. Daniel probably had someone watching us. He did say he wanted little Derek, remember?"

"I remember." I didn't bother keeping the Alpha out of my voice. In fact, the only thing that kept me from changing was that we were in Derek's car. "I'm going to kill him."

Derek didn't say a word.

We pulled up to the hospital and I could tell Daniel had just been there. I could smell shifter all over. We hurried inside and skipped the elevators, instead bolting up the stairs at top speed to the third floor, where I knew Scott's mom usually was.

In a room right by the nurses station, Kay, Rachel, Scott, and Scott's mom were all locked in. I pounded on the door and heard Scott's mom say "Who is it? We're doing an examination."

"Melissa, it's Ian! Please, open the door!" There was a click and the door opened, and Melissa's worried face came into view.

"Oh Ian!" She hugged me and I was momentarily startled. "Daniel says we have to give him the baby or he's gonna come in and get him..."

"Did he tell this to Kay?" She nodded and I went to Kay, who was sitting on the bed holding little Derek. I took him and he snuggled into my chest. "Kay, Daniel told you that through your mind powers?" She nodded.

"When he said that, we locked the door and called you right away. I don't know where he is..."

"That's because you aren't a very powerful shifter...Give me a minute."

I blocked out the noises of the room and the hospital, and reached out my mind powers. Daniel's mind was already familiar to me, so it didn't take long before I found him. I wasn't too familiar with the hospital, but it felt like he was down on the first floor somewhere.

"He's on the fist floor still...Probably looking through the rooms to find us. He can't find people with his mind like I can, that's probably why he had someone following us."

Still connected with Daniel's mind, I sent him the message _Why are you here?_

He sounded surprised when he said _Ian? I didn't know you were here._

_You came to kidnap my baby, why wouldn't I be here?_

_Maybe because you've gained some sense and finally decided to let him be raised like a shifter should be. But, by the way you sound, I doubt that._

_I guess you're not a complete idiot after all. You're not going to take my baby._

_We'll see._

Anger flared in me and I wanted to change again. I felt little Derek tremble in my arm, and when I looked down, his eyes were a bright red. Like an Alpha.

That pushed me to delve deeper into Daniel's mind, and an image came forth, but I could tell it wasn't a memory. I saw myself going up some stairs and into a hospital hallway, and realized I was looking through Daniel's eyes. I saw he had four other shifters with him, and that they were now searching the second floor for us.

I pulled out of his mind and said "He has four other shifters, and now they're on the second floor." I handed little Derek to Melissa and said "Take him up to the top floor, or the roof if you have to. Rachel and Scott, go with him."

Scott immediately shrieked "Why me?! I've fought someone before!"

"Not a shifter, you haven't. Unless you wanna end up dead or in a hospital bed like Jackson's friend Danny, I suggest you go up."

"What about Kay?" I glanced over at her. "She's probably the most inexperienced out of anyone."

"But she's also a shifter, so there's no chance she'll die if she gets bitten again. You might." Scott didn't say anything to that, only ran out of the room after his mom and Rachel. I turned to look at Kay. "You'll wait in here with me. Derek...can you go in the next room?"

"What? Why?"

"Your bite can kill them, remember?" I opened a door on the wall that led directly into the room next door. "They didn't know I was here, so they probably don't know you're here either. Just stay in here until Daniel and his shifters come in, then you can spring out and surprise them."

"And if they know I'm here?"

"Then we deal with it." Derek didn't object, probably because he knew I was right. He went into the next room and I shut the door, just as I heard the elevator doors open at the end of the hall. "You ready Kay?"

She shook her head and her light brown hair shook out of place. "We're gonna die, aren't we?"

"I don't know." I heard a low growl from Derek next door, just as the shifters were approaching this room. I growled and the door handle jiggled and opened. "Daniel."

"Ian...And Kay?" He sounded surprised again. "How are you still alive?"

"I had my husband bite her, of course." Daniel's eyes came to me. "The wolf bite mixed with yours and turned her into a shifter instead of killing her. You didn't know that could happen, did you?"

He uttered a begrudging "No...But that doesn't mean she still won't live till the next full moon. Which is on Christmas, if I'm right. What a fitting gift."

"Oh, my gift will be seeing you with your throat torn out on the floor of this room, along with your four buddies there." The four shifters that had come in after Daniel all tensed, and the room suddenly felt much stuffier. My head started to ache, like I was having a bad migraine, and I knew they were trying to use their mind powers on me.

I pushed back against their probing powers, hard, and all five of them were physically pushed back several feet into the door. Daniel quickly shook it off and uttered a low, guttural growl. I let one loose of my own, and my vision filmed over red. It was like every other time I'd shifted into an Alpha wolf, only I was fully in control this time.

A low, unending growl was coming from Kay too, and Daniel turned to look at her. "I don't know how you survived...But either come with us or you can die like her."

"I'd rather die."

Daniel leaped at her and I jumped in the way and felt his claws tear into my shoulder. I put my hands up and pushed as hard against him as I could with my hands and my mind powers.

The door Derek was hiding behind burst open, just in time for him to see Daniel get crushed against the wall of the room. His chest was crookedly caved in and he gasped for breath, and two of his little followers attacked me.

One slashed my stomach and the other bit my arm, but I barely felt it. I felt my face contort as my Alpha fangs came out and I bit into the shifter's flesh, and he screamed. I pulled him off and Derek was already at work on the one that had slashed me.

Two of the other ones pounced, but even as I slammed them to the ground, I saw one frozen by the door to the room. The fire alarm for the hospital began to ring, and the noise of doctors and patients in the hall covered the noise of our struggles.

A few slashes and loud crunches later, three shifters lay dead on the ground. Daniel and two of the unnamed others were in a heap on the floor, Daniel's caved chest unnerving me a little bit. One was still frozen by the door, and the one I bit was tearing at his neck where I bit it.

I looked down at my tattered, bloody clothes and said "Well...that went better than I thought."

"But now my clothes are ruined." I looked at Kay, whose clothes were in scraps like mine. "We should get home and change."

"Glad to see you're okay with killing someone." She shrugged, and I turned my attention to the shifter by the door. "You. What are you doing?"

"I didn't even want to come at first...You weren't supposed to be here...I knew this would happen!"

"Just...get outta here. Go back to your pack, run away somewhere, I don't care. Just get out of Beacon Hills." He backed up through the door and scurried away, and I heard a grunt from Derek's general direction. I looked over and saw him staring after the escaped shifter. "There's no point in killing him if he doesn't want to fight us."

"We need to get out of here. I have a feeling it was Scott or someone that pulled the fire alarm."

Kay asked "What do we do with him?" We all looked down at the shifter I bit, who was still writhing in agony. "Do we leave him here or take him with us?"

Derek said "We take him. Ian bit him and it looks like he's having a reaction to it, and we'll need to know exactly what will happen."

I looked in the small closet of the room and found a few hospital robes, and threw one to Kay while I put one on myself. Derek picked up the twitching shifter and we hurried down the hospital stairs and out the back entrance.

I looked up and saw Rachel, Scott and Melissa still up on the roof, and said to Derek "How will we get them down without anyone seeing?"

"They jump. SCOTT!" He heard Derek's shout and they all looked down to where we were. "Get your down here!"

"How?! If they find us inside, we're screwed!"

"Jump you idiot!"

I looked up as Scott told them, and panic suddenly filled my mind. "Derek! They have the baby! What if he falls?!"

He turned to me and said "Relax, they can do this." He looked back up at the roof. "Scott, you bring your mom down! Rachel, DON'T DROP MY BABY!" The Alpha was in Derek's voice as he shouted this, and I knew Rachel had no choice but to listen.

Scott took his mom in his arms and leaped off, landing just a few feet away on his feet. Melissa stood up, shaking, but looked okay. "Melissa? Are you okay?"

"Yeah...Remind me to never, ever, ever do that again though."

She staggered over to Kay and we all looked up at Rachel, holding the bundle that was little Derek. She looked like she didn't want to jump but the fire alarm was shutting off, and they would soon start searching around the building.

"Rachel!"

"I can't do it, it's too high!" Derek growled and I smacked his arm, and he looked at me with disbelief.

"Don't you growl at her, she isn't used to being a wolf yet."

"Then how will we get her and our son down without being noticed?"

I looked at the ground and then up at the roof, and around to either side. "I'll get them. Just make sure nobody can see."

Scott and Kay kept watch around either side of the building, and Derek stared at me as I removed the hospital robe and what was left of my shirt.

"What are you doing?!"

"Getting them!" I didn't exactly mean to scream at him, but my head hurt and my nerves were shot, and I couldn't handle much more stress.

I closed my eyes as I tried to imagine a pair of wings extending from my back. My first urge was to shift into a great eagle, but I needed my arms to carry Rachel and the baby safely back down to the ground.

There was a tearing noise and a moment of pain as I felt the wings spread from my back, and I almost cried out from the pain of it. I lifted them and myself up into the air, and watched Rachel's horrified face as I approached her.

"You can do that?!"

"Just come here!" I hugged her to me and we kept the baby between us as I floated back down to the ground. Another searing pain hit me as the wings melted back into my body, and I felt the breath knocked from my lungs.

I staggered and fell to my knees, the pain still throbbing through my entire back. Derek handed the injured shifter off to Scott and came over to me and stood me up.

"Ian?"

"It...hurts..." He lifted me and carried me as we all ran around to where the Camaro was parked. Derek sat me in the front seat and Rachel, Kay, and Scott all squeezed in the back, with Rachel still holding the baby. "Where's...the shifter?"

"The trunk." Just before we pulled off, Melissa handed Derek something through the window and he said "What's this?"

"I examined your son, remember? You'll want to take a look at that when you get home."

Derek nodded and we peeled away from the hospital and the multitude of police cars that now were surrounding the premises.


	25. A Possible Cure

I sat on the dining room table and stared at the shifter that was tied down on a chair. Since we'd left the hospital four hours ago, we'd gotten the news that the Danny writhing in pain from Derek's bite had died, and that my son was growing four times faster than he should have been. All in all, I wasn't in a very good mood, and it showed.

I kicked the shifter's leg and he yelped. "What was that for?!"

"Where are the rest of you shifters at?" He didn't say anything and I grabbed him by the throat. "Where are they!?"

Derek must've heard my shout, because he and Rachel both appeared in the doorway with concerned looks on their faces.

"Ian...You shouldn't be torturing this idiot, you should be looking after little Derek..."

"I am." I used my mind powers to push them both back from the doorway and slam it shut, and my head began to pound. My body still hadn't recovered from my little stunt of sprouting wings, and so even the littlest effort tired me out. I looked back at the shifter. "Now, are you going to

answer me?"

"Go to hêll, you bîtch. We came here to see if you would lead us, but you just betrayed us...to be with a _wolf."_ The way he spat the word _wolf_ ate at me, and I dug my claws into his leg, and he screamed. "That hurts!"

"Well of course it does..." Something suddenly occurred to me that didn't make sense: I was hurting this shifter, but he wasn't reacting like a shifter would, at least not physically. He was reacting...like a human. "You, try to use your mind powers."

"Why?"

"Do you want me to rip something off? Just do it." He sat quiet for a moment.

"I...can't." I scratched him again and he yelped, and I brought my claws to my nose and inhaled deeply.

It was human blood.

"Derek! Get in here!" The door flew open and he burst in. "Something went _really_ wrong at the hospital...This isn't a shifter, it's a human!"

"What?" Derek sniffed the air around the immobilized shifter. "How in the hêll..?"

"I don't know! You grabbed the right person, right?"

"Of course I did!" Derek grabbed him by the hair and said "I saw this shifter attack you, and after we were done fighting I grabbed him and stuffed him in the trunk of my car. Now, you tell me if it's possible that I grabbed the wrong person."

I buried my head in my hands, confused. "How could this happen..?"

"He might've come into contact with something..." I jolted upright. "Ian?"

"I bit him. When he attacked me, I bit him, and you said we should watch to see how he reacts...What if this is it?" The shifter sat upright as well.

"You turned me back into a human!?" He struggled, but as a human now, couldn't make a move against the thick ropes that held him.

I looked down and said "If we let you go, are you going to go back to _them?"_ He grumbled.

"No...Besides the fact that they won't accept me as a human, we weren't supposed to come back form the hospital without the baby."

"So are you going to tell us where they're hiding?" There were a few moments of hard silence.

"On a farm a few miles outside of town. There's about two dozen there, but they'll probably bring more shifters in if there are any, now that you've killed some of us."

"Fantastic..." With a swipe of my wrist, I slashed the ropes holding the man to the chair. "You don't tell anyone about this. If they find out, they'll triple their efforts to kill me, and then I'll be coming after you."

"No problem there." He quickly ran out of the front of the house, and I dropped into one of the other dining room chairs.

I stared up at Derek, not knowing what to think or say. Within the last 6 hours, one of my friends had died and I found out my bite had cured a shifter. What was even happening!?

"Ian. I don't know if that was a fluke or if you can cure more people...but I think we can use this."

"How?"

"Well, if there's really two dozen or more shifters outside of town waiting for us, we can use this against them."

"How? Fill up a bunch of tiny darts and shoot them, and hope this wasn't just a fluke?"

"We can test it again, to make sure."

Test it? "On who?"

"Anyone we've turned...Kay." I stood up.

"I...have to think about this..." I turned away from him and went upstairs, shutting myself in the master bedroom.

I went to little Derek's crib and he looked up at me with his big green eyes, and I picked him up and took him to my bed. I laid back and sat him on my stomach, and he sat up by himself. Anyone who saw him could swear he was five months old, not five weeks old.

"You're so much bigger than you should be...Stop growing! Give me a little more time to hold you and fuss over you before you grow up...Is that really too much to ask?" Little Derek was silent, and simply continued to stare at me. He reached for my wolf pendant that still hung around my neck, and I briefly remembered the day Derek had given it to me. Well, when he left it in my bedroom for me to find.

"I wish I knew what to do...I wish we weren't horribly outnumbered, I wish I wasn't losing it every minute of the day...I wish I was more like your father...At least he knows how to be useful in a fight."

Little Derek pulled at my necklace and I heard his mind-voice in my head.

_I'm okay, you're okay, Daddy's okay...Just think about that._

I couldn't help but laugh. "I'm getting advice from my son who's not even 2 months old...I feel so pathetic."

"But you're not." I looked at the bedroom doorway and saw Derek coming in. He sat on the bed beside my head and little Derek smiled a toothless smile. "You're not pathetic, and you're not useless."

"Maybe to you, but I sure feel like it...I mean, I have no idea what I'm even doing anymore! When I first came here you helped me, then that Jakob thing came along and we worked through that...but this? Neither of us know what we're doing, and it could have severe consequences."

"We'll get through this just like we did everything else...If anything, it will be better." I looked up at him questioningly. "The shifters told us you were an Alpha shifter, that you could tell the other shifters what to do. Don't you think we could use that to our advantage?"

"But...that would mean I'd have to leave you and little Derek to go with them..." My eyes went back to little Derek, who'd begun reaching for his dad. "I'd have to leave you two and go try to take control of two dozen or more shifters. But what then? Even if it somehow works, what the hêll am I supposed to do afterwards?"

"That...I don't know...But it will help us to fight them. You could at least command them to leave our son alone, right?"

I sat upright, holding little Derek tight to my chest. Derek was right; I could tell the shifters to leave us all alone, so then we wouldn't even have to fight them...But that still meant I'd have to leave my son for god-knows how long.

"But I would still have to leave you and the baby...I don't know if I could stay away for very long."

His face hardened. "I don't want you to stay away...But I don't want them trying to kill us anymore. You and maybe Kay go, do what you need to...And I'll be waiting right here with the baby."

He took little Derek and I buried my head in my hands, unsure if it would really be the right thing to do.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So, I heard about your plan to commit suicide from my nephew." I looked up from little Derek sitting on the bed to Peter, standing in the bedroom doorway. "Are you really going to go through with it?"

"What are you talking about?" I finished dressing little Derek and turned to face Peter.

"Going to try to take control of the shapeshifters, that's what I'm talking about. Just because you're the strongest one they've seen doesn't mean they'll just submit to you. You've killed some of their own."

"I can do this. You took control of Scott when he wasn't willing, didn't you? And Derek eventually too?"

"Werewolves are a lot easier to control than shapeshifters. These shifters have never had a leader before, and I can guarantee all of them won't be so keen on accepting one now. You're putting yourself and all of us in danger."

"You'd better watch your words Peter...Just because we're friendly now doesn't mean I won't put you back in the ground. Alpha or not, you know I can do it."

"Maybe. But you also know that ignoring my advice is stupid, since I'm the only one that's successfully dealt with shifters before." I narrowed my eyes and he stepped into the room. "Even so, I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like this...You haven't spent any time trying to figure out anything about your son, have you?"

"Of course I have. I know he's a shifter, and that he's growing a lot faster than normal...What else is there to figure out?"

"Maybe why that's happening. You didn't grow faster than normal when you were young, did you? You didn't have psychic powers or could shapeshift when you were a baby, could you? I'm starting to think I'm the only one that's noticed that those shifters outside aren't our only problem."

"Peter...You'd better not be thinking of doing anything to my son."

"Oh, trust me, I'm not that stupid. I'd rather keep on living a free life than have you and my nephew trailing me forever." He came and sat on my bed, and I felt my Alpha side scratching right beneath the surface. It almost broke through when he began to reach for little Derek. "I'm just saying that your son might not always be the little angel you think he is."

"So what are you trying to say?"

"He might be okay now, but when he's older...he might want to join them. He'll probably end up being an Alpha shifter like you, so you know they'll want him on their side instead of ours. If that happens,you'll be on opposite sides of the battle, and I know you don't want that."

"Of course not!" I snatched little Derek up off the bed and scowled hard at Peter. "My baby is not going to end up like one of those evil bâstârds out there...Me and Derek are going to raise him right and he'll grow up to lead the pack in Beacon Hills when Derek and I are done. If worst comes to worst I'll...I'll cure him if I have to!"

Peter's eyes widened and I could tell he was shocked. He didn't have much time to react though, because Derek appeared behind him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I suggest you go downstairs so we can have some privacy." Peter turned and left the room, and Derek quickly shut the double doors behind him. I sat on the bed and kept little Derek in my lap, and without looking Derek asked "Were you being serious?"

"About what?"

He turned to face me, looking both worried and angry. "Don't act like you don't know what I mean...I was sitting downstairs, trying to understand why you were so upset, and I suddenly hear you say you're going to cure our son? What am I supposed to think about that?!"

"I don't know!" Little Derek began to fuss and I lowered my voice. "He was making me angry, and I just yelled it out...But you can't possible tell me that it's a bad idea. He's growing so fast, we won't be able to get the time with him that we're supposed to..."

"It's not a bad idea, you're right...If it would even work." I looked at him questioningly and he sat beside me. "Not only did you carry him, but you've been breastfeeding him since the day he was born...I don't think he even can be cured."

"But...then what if what you're uncle was saying is right? What if he grows up and wants to go with the shifters, or turns...bad?"

"He won't. We haven't, so he won't, and it's as simple as that. Let him tell you yourself if you think I'm wrong."

I looked down at little Derek, and sure enough, he said _Daddy's right. I'll stay good just like you and him._

I held back a sob and said "I'm sorry...I've just been so worried about everything, and I've had no idea what to do about any of it..."

"You're my fiancée, I'm supposed to put up with a bunch of crâp." I chuckled. "Now, you just straighten up and go to those shifters and kick their âssês...Show them you're worthy enough to have my name."

Now I laughed hysterically, because that was so out of context for Derek to say.

Wiping a tear from my eye, I managed to say "Thanks for the vote of confidence...If I was still pregnant, I think I would've peed myself."

"Then I guess we'll have to hurry and get rid of these shifters so we can work on that second baby."


	26. Seizing Control

"Make sure he doesn't cry too much while I'm gone, okay?"

"Sure..." I kissed Derek hard on the lips as I prepared to leave.

Today was the day I was going to take control of the shifters, or take as many of them down with me as I could. It was getting increasingly hard to leave, though.

Derek embraced me and lifted me into his arms, and I could sense his hesitancy to let me go.

He released me from our long kiss and pressed his forehead to mine, both of our breathing labored now. "When you get back...no more waiting. We're going to make that second baby."

I laughed a bit. "Again, this is my body that's gonna carry the stress of another baby...Exactly how many babies are you planning on me having? My hips won't be able to take it." Derek chuckled and smirked.

"They'll take as many babies as they can, because that's how many babies I want with you..." Another laugh escaped my lips then, and I laughed so hard I almost broke down in tears.

When my laughing/crying fit was done with, Derek put me down and gave me the keys to his Camaro.

"Take care of her, ya hear?"

"Don't worry, I won't give her a single scratch."

Derek smirked again and said "I was talking to the car."

"Well, I won't have a scratch either." I kissed him again and went off the porch to his car.

The sky was getting lighter in the East and I knew sunrise was quickly approaching, which was the time I'd chosen to appear to the shifters. I didn't look back at Derek as I pulled away from the house and went down the long driveway that led to the long road beyond.

The farm where the shifters were hiding was about 2 miles away, and looked absolutely deserted when I drove up to it. I knew that was a lie, because I could feel the presence of at least two humans in the house, and the shifters were all gathered together in the nearby barn.

I smirked. They really had a good cover figured out, didn't they?

I removed my belt and threw it in the passenger seat, glad I'd worn some of Derek's clothes as a disguise. If I was going to do what I planned, I couldn't leave any details unchecked.

I focused on Daniel's face and body, bringing up every single detail I could remember, from the sound of his voice to the shape of his face. Once I had a solid picture in my mind, I took a deep breath and prepared to shift.

I had a feeling that this was going to hurt. A lot.

As soon as I began to shift a terrible pain ripped through me, like when I sprouted wings, but this time it covered my entire body. My bones cracked and healed and did it again 100 times over, and my skin stretched and bubbled and changed as well. I could feel every tiny cell stretch and change and I almost bashed my head through the windshield just to make the pain stop.

When it finally did, I looked in the mirror and almost lost it.

I didn't count on it working so well my first time, but when I looked in the rearview mirror, all I saw was Daniel's face and body. The image of his face made me snarl mine in anger, and the face in the mirror snarled as well. This had worked way too well.

I got out, feeling a little awkward because I was now bigger and taller than normal, and all of my girlish features were gone. I walked slowly into the barn and saw animals sleeping all around, and I knew the shifters were just in their disguises. The cured shifter was right, though; there looked to be about thirty of them right there in the barn with me.

One of them, disguised as a dog, looked at me from the shadows and I said "Wake everyone. Now."

He howled loud and clear, and all the others began to slowly wake. Once they saw me, Daniel to them, they got up a lot faster and began shifting back into their normal selves.

I was surprised at who some of them were. I recognized at least two from my time in Westwood, and several more from when I'd been in town here. How long had they been slowly infiltrating this city?

I was soon surrounded by thirty naked people, all waiting for me to speak. Some looked groggy and angry, like they didn't want to be there, and I realized Daniel must not have had the iron-clad hold over all of them that I assumed he had. He was just another shifter that had fought for control, and he was definitely no Alpha.

"As you may have notice, our little trip several days ago failed...And our brothers have perished." There was some angry jeers. "I've decided that we need to stop hunting the wolves for now, at least until we come up with a better strategy than what we've been using."

"And who says you run things?" One of the males, I noticed the group was mostly male, stepped up and shouted "You're the one that's come up with all these shît plans that keep getting us killed!"

"Shut your goddâmned mouth before I shut it for you." The shifter looked surprised, and I guessed Daniel didn't normally talk to them like that. "I know my other plans haven't worked, and that's why we need to back off and think of something new. Maybe you'll agree with me when I tell you that one of our fallen brothers ratted us out to the wolves and told them of our numbers."

Now the entire group got riled up, shouting and jeering and being generally discontent.

The first shifter, the one that'd been the dog, came to my side and said "Which one was it?"

"It doesn't matter...He is dead now, they all are."

One of the other discontent shifters yelled "You suck as a leader! We want someone else!"

I growled low and felt my Alpha self clawing beneath the surface.

Fine. If they wanted to provoke me, I would show them what I really was.

"If you want a new leader, I don't have a problem giving you one." That actually silenced most of the shifters.

The dog shifter nearly lost it. "What are you talking about?! Do you not remember how long we took to get here!?"

I smirked. "What are you talking about? I'm not even Daniel."

I didn't bother prepping myself for the immense pain of it, but when I began to shift back to myself, I found it didn't hurt nearly as much. I did have an extreme urge to vomit, though.

The sounds of my bones cracking echoed through the barn, and my elastic skin quickly pulled itself back into its usual shape, and I breathed a sigh of relief. What came from the shifters was very different.

Every single one of them was dead silent, and from the spiteful looks in their eyes, I knew that each and every one knew who I was, and had inferred that I'd killed Daniel.

"Well, here's your new leader. I just have one request from all of you...You can either listen to what I tell you, or I'll kill each and every one of you without a second thought. If you don't believe I can do it, well, feel free to attack."

Their faces twisted with anger, but still not a word was said.

"Nothing? Well, you lot are a lot more docile than I would've thought...And you're supposed to be killing me? _Please."_

The first one that had shouted now spoke. "You're Ian Moore, the one that was born an Alpha...A half-breed." I gritted my teeth at _half-breed._ It was like an insult to my parents for having me. "You're the one Daniel tried to make our leader."

"Well, if you mean he tried to kill all of my friends in an attempt to make me join you, then yes. Needless to say, I refused."

The dog shifter asked "Then why are you here now? Have you finally come to accept the offer? Because it's too late."

"I haven't...not exactly. I've come to tell you exactly what I said. Leave Beacon Hills and stop attacking me and my family, or none of you will make it to next week."

"And what will you do to stop us?"

I smirked and said "Me? I didn't say it would be me...I just said you wouldn't survive the next few days."

I grabbed the shifter by the throat and squeezed, and his veins popped out of his neck like an overripe tomato. He dropped dead to the floor and the others screamed and ran forward, and I didn't bother trying to stop them.

They shifted into a pack of dogs and began attacking me, and I simply let them.

Compared to the pain of shifting into another person, the pain of being bitten over and over again was almost bearable, and I simply fell the ground and let them attack me.

One might've called me foolish, if not for what would soon happen next.

Once they'd all had their chance to tear at my body, that first angry shifter turned back into himself and said "Stop." The others stopped and backed away, and I was faced with the horror of what my body had become.

It was unrecognizable, with all the marks and gashed and chunks that were missing. I did not mind though, because it was the price I was paying for saving my family.

The shifter knelt down in the bloody dirt beside me and asked "Was it _really_ worth coming here to die? You know we're just going to go after that precious son of yours next."

I coughed and a spurt of blood flew onto the shifter, and I started laughing. "I'd really...like to see you try...human."

"What'd you call me?"

He leaned closer and I shouted **"Human!"**

As if on cue, shifters started convulsing and falling to the ground, the venom that was my blood working infinitely faster than with just a simple bite. The one before me fell to the ground, gritting his teeth together so hard they began to crack.

"That's what you get...for coming after...my baby...you _pig."_

I didn't know if it was the blood loss or all the shifter bites I'd suffered from, but I was quickly beginning to lose consciousness. The barn started to go black and I felt weaker and weaker, until I was too weak to even keep my eyes open.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**(Derek's PointOfView)**

"You did _what?!"_ I was immediately faced with a half dozen angry faces, the only one of them not twisted with rage being my uncle. He was the only one that knew where Ian had went.

"It was Ian's choice to go to the shifters. She left before dawn."

I was surprised when the normally-peaceful Kay started to lose her cool. "How could you let Ian do that? She's a mother! Your future _wife!_ You know dawn was four hours ago, right? Chances are that they did something to her! What if she doesn't come home!?"

"She'll come home!" However much faith I had in Ian, there was a tiny part of me that knew Kay was right...That knew something had to've happen to Ian. She hadn't checked in in the entire four hours she'd been gone, and I was really starting to get worried. "Look, if it'll make you all feel better, I'll go look for Ian."

"I'm coming with you." I held up a hand to Kay.

"No, it'll be better if I go alone..."

"NO! She's my goddâmned family, and I'm going!" She marched past me outside with the keys to her and Rachel's Audi, not giving me a choice.

I groaned and said to the rest of them "We'll be back...I'll call if anything's wrong."

I took the keys from Kay once we were outside and said "Get in..."

We were to the shifter farm in less than two minutes. I wasn't nearly patient enough right now to be obeying any traffic laws.

My Camaro was sitting outside of an old barn, and the smell of blood hit me like a train as soon as I opened the car door.

I said to Kay "You go and check if there's anyone in that house over there...I'll see if anyone's in here."

She nodded and went off, and I slowly approached the foul smell of blood that was coming from inside the decrepit barn.

The first thing I saw was a man with his throat torn out, and then a whole mass of naked men and women stirring on the floor. I knew immediately that whatever Ian had done had worked, because these people no longer had the smell of shifter like the ones we had encountered before.

I happened to see one particular body with clothes on, torn and bloody clothes, and when I went to investigate I yelled.

**"Ian!"** I sped to her still body laying on the ground and lifted her into my arms, but she didn't move. I shook her and yelled in her ear and she still didn't respond. "Ian..! Come on baby, wake up!"

She wasn't dead, I could hear her heartbeat, but she just _wouldn't wake up._

The newly cured shifters around me began to wake up, their faces filling with anger when they saw me with Ian's limp body.

Several came over and tried to strike me, but since they had been turned human, their blows barely affected me. When they realized this they quickly began to scatter, and I lifted Ian's body and went out of the barn.

Kay was running out of the house and screamed when she saw us.

"This is _your fault!_ You shouldn't have let her come here!" I ignored Kay and carried Ian over to my car, and laid her carefully in the passenger seat. I ignored Kay's wails and got in my car and drove away.

I was tempted to take her home, but I only knew the others would be just as angry at me for letting Ian go, and might even try to attack me because of it. There was one place I could go, but I didn't know if he would even be able to help in this situation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I knocked hard enough on the door to almost break the glass, and he immediately came and opened it.

"Derek?" I pushed the door the rest of the way open and entered the vet clinic with Ian in my arms. Dr. Deaton asked "What are you doing here with her?"

"I need your help." We went into the back and I laid Ian down on the large metal table and explained. "Ian was attacked by a group of shifters. Her wounds aren't healing and she isn't waking up and...I don't know what to do."

"Shifters...You mean shapeshifters? I've only heard of their confirmed existence quite recently, thanks to your friends the Argents. I can say I don't know much about them..."

"What do you mean?! Can you help or not?!"

"Relax Derek. Getting angry won't help the situation. I can try to help, but from what I've heard your fiancée isn't a regular shifter, so I can't tell how she's going to react to anything I try."

I looked down at Ian's still bleeding body, at the bite marks that covered her from head to toe, and said "You do whatever the hêll you have to do to save my wife."


	27. Family

**(Third Person PointOfView)**

_Derek was unaware of exactly how much malice and hate would rain down upon him when he allowed Ian to see the shifters alone, and now that he had, he desperately wished he hadn't._

_Ian's cousins, Scott, Stiles, Skylar, Rachel, Kay, he'd even received a visit from Chris Argent and his daughter Allison so they could take their turn voicing their 'displeasure.'_

_Derek barely reacted to their collective screaming, shouting, and threatening, only staying by his beloved's side as much as possible._

_Ian was most definitely __**not**__ in a good, or even okay, condition. Dr. Deaton had been unable to do anything for Ian, and she had fallen into a deep coma. Her bites had healed perfectly but she was unable to wake, so she was kept in one of the mansion's spare bedrooms where Derek was almost always by her side._

_He often brought their son in over the following days to see her as well, where little Derek would always use his power to ask his father if she was waking up. It broke his heart to have to tell his son no._

_And when Little Derek's first tooth began to grow in and he uttered his first word_ "Dada," _Derek was filled with an even deeper despair at the fact that Ian would have wanted to hear that._

_He blamed himself for everything that had transpired, and though Ian had been the one to ultimately sacrifice herself, he would not forgive himself. Derek was lost to his grief._

_He was currently in that spare bedroom, looking over his wife's body with that forlorn look of his, when Ian's cousin Tyler entered the room unbidden._

"What are you doing in here, Tyler? You're...not supposed to be here..." _Derek didn't have the energy or the will to finish his admonition of Tyler, and gave up._

"There's someone calling for you...Says he's the Sheriff." _Derek doesn't respond and Tyler sighs._ "He says there's some at the police station asking about Ian."

_Derek is immediately on his feet and says_ "You stay in here while I go talk to him." _Tyler takes Derek's place at Ian's side and Derek races down the hall and down the stairs to the first floor._

_Stiles is waiting and says_ "You let your phone die so my dad called mine..."

"Just give it to me." _Derek snatches the phone from Stiles and growls_ "Who's asking about my wife?"

"There's two of them, a man and his wife...A werewolf." _Derek's breath hitches in his throat._ "They say their Ian's grandparents."

"Tell them...to come to Ian's house...I'll let them know what's happened to her..." _Derek hangs up and gives the phone back to Stiles, and sees that all of the wolves are present except Rachel and Skylar, and that Kay is gone as well. He gives thanks mentally, knowing he would be yelled at yet again by her if she were here._

_All the wolves have heard Stiles' father over the phone, and all tense immediately. They are not comfortable having an unknown wolf in town, and most do not believe that they are truly Ian's grandparents._

_Derek turns to the one that would know the truth, Ian's cousin Danny, and asks_ "Did you know Ian's grandparents?"

"She had the same grandparents as me and Tyler, from her dad's side, and they died a while back, before Ian's parents did..."

"So you don't know who these people are?" _Danny shakes his head._

_Derek growls and his Alpha side scratches beneath the surface, and as he considers running out to 'greet' these newcomers, Isaac pipes up from the back of the room_ "What if they're her mother's parents?"

_Everyone turns to look at him and he stands._ "Ian's mom ran away from the shifters, right? But she wasn't born a shifter, she had to be a werewolf that was bitten, so she had to've had a werewolf mom or dad, right? Maybe she didn't abandon her real parents like she did with the shifters."

_Everyone in the room silently agreed upon that solution, it being the most probable in this improbable situation._

_Minutes passed as everyone waited silently for any telltale signs that someone was approaching. The rumbling engine of a car, the crunching of gravel beneath the tires, anything. When something finally was heard, a collective breath was drawn, and the wolves sat frozen within the home. The only movement inside was Tyler coming down the stairs to see what was happening._

_The car outside came to a halt and two people exited. The man was tall, at least 6'3" with unkempt blonde hair and stolid brown eyes. Out of the passenger side stepped his wife, who was just as intimidating, if not more so. She stood at 5'10" and had flowing brown hair, and her piercing green eyes flashed Alpha red as she surveyed the large home before her. They did not look one bit the mid-50's ages that they were._

_The intimidating pair strode forward and didn't bother knocking at the door, only striding right into the home. All the wolves tensed, sensing that there was another wolf in their presence. Only Derek and Peter could sense that Ian's grandmother was an Alpha, because they were Alphas themselves._

_Ian's grandfather stepped forward and asked_ "We've come for Ian Moore. Where is she?"

_Derek stepped forward and said_ "She's sick, what do you want?"

"We're her grandparents. From her mother's side. We've been hearing of some things happening here that we're concerned about..."

"Like?"

"Like you fledgling wolves not taking proper care of our family."

_Derek stepped up to the man, and despite having to look up the 3 inches to his eyes, he was not afraid. Dâmn this man whether he was Ian's family or not._

"We have taken care of Ian in every way that we can since she arrived here. How would you know anything about that? You've never been there for her, not once."

_Ian's grandfather sneers._ "Just because we haven't seen her doesn't mean we haven't been there. When her mother was turned into a shifter and she left home, she kept contact. When she left the shifters to be with that Alpha werewolf, we still spoke with her. And when Ian was born, our daughter took the risk of exposing herself to the shifters so that we could see our only granddaughter."

_Derek growls but does not say anything, knowing that the man is right._

_Once again, he asks_ "Now, are you going to tell me where our granddaughter is?"

"She's in a coma after battling the entire pack of shifters on her own." _The man stiffens as his wife gasps aloud._ "We discovered Ian had the ability to cure wolves and shifters, and they were hunting her and my son, and so she let them attack her so that she could take them all down at the same time. We didn't know what their venom would do to her..."

_Derek could not continue, forcing himself to stop as a sob rose in his chest. No, he was not going to cry in front of these people or anyone. He had released enough silent tears for his wife already._

_A low cry was heard and Derek looked to his uncle. Derek had finally begun to trust him again after all the things he had done, enough that Peter went upstairs to fetch Little Derek._

_He had just woken up from a nap, and upon seeing Peter, used his mind powers to ask him __**"Where is daddy?"**_

"Your daddy's downstairs talking to some mean people...and he wants to see you." _Peter picks up Little Derek and admires him, this being the first time he has actually held his nephew's child._ "You know, you do look an awfully lot like my nephew...It's a shame your mother doesn't trust me more, I could teach you to use your powers too."

_Peter brings the baby, who now looks a healthy 6 months old, and hands him to Derek. Derek looks at Ian's grandparents and opens his mouth to say something, but is interrupted by Ian's grandmother gasping again._

_She steps around her husband up to Derek and looks down at the baby, then back up at Derek with wide green eyes._ "This...this is Ian's son, isn't it? This is my great-grandbaby?"

_Now the man gasps in shock as Derek nods._ "Your granddaughter and I have been engaged for some time, and Derek Ian Hale was born only a couple of months ago...He's been growing quite fast..."

_The room is silent and uncomfortable._

_The silence is finally broken as she asks_ "May I...hold him?"

_Derek is unsure, and looks at his uncle with a pleading expression. Peter nods, as if to say __**She is one Alpha, and we have a room full of wolves. Go ahead.**__ Derek gingerly hands the baby over and he giggles in his great-grandmother's arms, who then bursts into tears._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**(Derek's PointOfView)**

After Ian's grandmother calmed down, she sat on one of the couched with her husband, holding little Derek. I wasn't exactly comfortable with it, but I knew the feeling of not seeing your family in so long. Plus, I remembered how happy I'd been and how much I held Little Derek when he was born.

"Oh, I'm Fiona, and this is my husband Alec...Oh God, I can't believe I have a great-grandbaby...I'm not even 60 yet!"

I smirked. "Well, Ian and I moved pretty fast, and she did say she wanted kids..."

Fiona smiled. "Well, I'm glad you were willing to give them to her...Is she here?" I nodded.

"I took her to someone I thought could help, but he wasn't able to, since Ian isn't a wolf or even a normal shifter. We've tried waking her up, but nothing's worked so far..." Fiona and Alec looked at each other. "What?"

"Have you tried to activate her healing?"

"Her body healed the bite marks from the shifters, but it didn't wake her up." They frowned.

"What about her mind powers?"

"What?" Fiona sighed.

"My grandbaby is a shifter, and as you probably know by now, she has a great deal of extra powers. If you can't wake her that way, then you have to go through her mind to do it. Didn't you try?" I shook my head.

"The only other shifter besides Ian and our baby is her friend Kay, who I bit to save her from dying from a shifter's bite...She isn't used to her mind powers though, she might not be able to do it."

"Then use your son." I drew back, alarmed. "He has been speaking to me in my mind this whole time, and has been showing me images of you and my granddaughter. He will be able to do it." She looked down at Little Derek and he smiled his one-tooth grin. "If what he's been showing me is the truth, then I implore you to do this...for the sake of our family. There aren't many of us left, and I'm not keen on losing another."

Family...That was what it was always going to come down to, wasn't it?

I held my hands out and little Derek reached out, and I took him from Fiona's grasp. He said to me _I want to help mommy_ and I almost let another sob escape.

Could my son really do something like this?

I guess it was time to find out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**(Ian's PointOfView)**

This was great, perfect even, if it wasn't for the fact that it was a dream.

I was in Derek's old home, except it was no longer the old burnt-out shell it used to be. It was fresh and whole, and filled with the hustle-and-bustle of the big family housed within it. Cousins, aunts, uncles, all looking happy and healthy within the confines of Hale House.

A woman makes her way to me, and I know immediately she is Derek's mother, without her having to say a word. They have the same bright green eyes.

"Mrs. Hale..." She smiles brightly.

"Please, call me Talia...You're Ian, right? The one that has bewitched my son Derek?" I feel myself blush and I nod. "And you've given me a grandson...I am sorry that I am not there to see him..."

I can feel tears threatening in my eyes. "I've tried taking care of Derek and our baby, I have...It's just _so hard_ and I don't know what to do anymore..."

"Shh, it's okay, it is..." Talia Hale draws me into her arms and I start to cry, barely registering that everyone else running through the house has disappeared. "You've done better than me or anyone else could expect...You're raising a fine son and a fine wolf pack, and you've managed to bring my son out of his spiraling depression...What mother could ask for more?"

I chuckle and she lets me go, and I rapidly wipe my tears away. This woman I've never known has been watching over me, and approves of everything I've done, even the things that have hurt my family...

"Oh, I wish there was something I could do for you...I don't even know if this is real but I wish there was something I could do to help you..."

She smiled again and

brushes her dark brown hair out of her face. "You can help me by telling my son how proud I am of him. He doesn't believe it himself, but he's gotten better since he's known you, and he needs to know it. Tell him I am proud that he has been able to move on and make himself a new family."

I nod fervently.

I look over and see someone else coming my way, someone who looks almost exactly like my Derek, but when I turn back to Talia she is gone. I thought it was Derek at first, but he is my height and is slimmer, and has an unkempt sweep of almost white hair on top of his head. I look into his bright green eyes, the same eyes I saw in Talia and see every day in Derek, and gasp.

Knowing that I recognize him, he steps forward with a soft smile and breathes "Mom..."

I thrown my arms around the image of my grown-up son and he hugs me tightly back. "My Little Derek...How are you here? You're not dead too, are you!?"

He shakes his head and I relax. "I'm not dead, and you're not dead. You're in a coma at our house and Grandma and Grandpa told me to help you wake up."

Grandma and Grandpa..? "But your grandparents are all dead."

"Not mine, yours. From your mom's side." I froze. "Grandma is an Alpha and Grandpa is a human...They said they were there when you were born."

I had no idea I even _had_ grandparents. The only ones I'd known were from my dad's side, and they'd died before my parents even did.

"Wait, wait, wait...So they sent _you_ into my head to wake me up out of a coma...You're using your powers!?" Though it was just a figment of my imagination, I felt my heart jump in my chest at the thought of my son straining himself for my sake.

"I use them all the time, remember? I'm fine...And you need to wake up before Dad goes ballistic." I can't help but giggle a bit; Little Derek must've been listening to my conversations more than I thought. He sounds just like me.

"I know, he must be having it hard taking care of you all by himself..."

"Actually, Kay has been watching me most of the time. Dad won't leave your side." I côck my head to the side. "He does bring me to see you though."

Derek was suffering more than I thought he would...I didn't even want to know how long I was out for.

I took a deep breath and said "Let's go...But before we do..." Little Derek looked at me questioningly. "What's with the getup? You look like a skinnier version of your father." He smirked.

"I didn't do anything this is just how I showed up. Come on, I think you have something to tell dad..?" I roll my eyes and take his hand. "This might feel a little weird...It sure did coming in here."

I feel Little Derek using his mind power and struggling a bit, but as soon as I add to the effort I feel us both yanked out of that place and sent screaming back into our bodies.


	28. A New Ability

"Ian!" My eyes barely had the chance to flutter open before I was swept up into someone's arms and nearly crushed. I felt kisses cover my entire face and I broke out in giggles. I pulled my face back and the assault stopped, and I was finally able to open my eyes and see the loving face of my fiancé.

I put my hand on his face and he sighed deeply. "Derek...You stayed by my side. The whole time."

He nodded and, without looking away, said "There was no way I was going to leave. If it would've taken 3 months or 3 years for you to come back, I would've waited. Me and little Derek." He turned with me still in his arms.

There, by the door, was little Derek. He was smiling like he'd never smiled before, showing off the nub of a new tooth, and I could feel the pride rolling off of him. He was in the arms of a tall woman with brown hair and green eyes that I almost immediately recognized as my grandmother. No, I didn't recognize her exactly, but her face was so much like that of my mother it almost scared me.

That reminded me of Derek's mother, and what she had said to me. My eyes fell and Derek asked "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I...I just need to sit down..." He sat me back down of the bed and knelt down on the ground before me. I looked to my grandmother and asked "Can we have a minute or two alone?"

She nodded. "Please don't take too long...I've been without my grandbaby long enough." I smiled weakly as she turned and shut the door behind her.

Derek immediately took my hands in his and asked "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, not really, just...Something happened while I was out. Something...big." He looked at me questioningly. "I...saw someone...A woman. She had

tan skin, long brown hair, bright green eyes...Her name was Talia."

Derek froze. When he spoke, he almost sounded...afraid. "You saw...my mother?"

I nodded. "She told me to tell you something...That she's proud of you. Proud that you were able to move on from the death of your first family and make yourself a new one."

He sunk to the floor at my feet. "But...how? How were you able to see her?"

"I don't know. I don't care." He perked up a bit. "All that matters is that I'm okay, and that your mother is proud of you. And I'm proud of you too. Proud that you've been taking wonderful care of me and your son and everyone else that has become a part of our family. I wouldn't trade any of it for anything in the world."

Derek surprised me by smirking. "Any of it? You wouldn't trade anything?"

I cocked my head to the side, confused. "What do you mean?"

He suddenly pulled me down onto the floor with him, and held up my left hand. "Trade last names. Become Ian Dylan Hale. You've already promised to..."

"Okay, so that's one thing I will trade in..."

"How about now?" I froze. "We've been waiting long enough...I want to do this before anything else happens. We can go right down to the courthouse, get some judge to marry us right then and there. It'll be quick and easy, and then I can finally call you my wife."

My mouth spread into a warm smile. "You call me 'wife' most of the time already." Derek shrugged and laughed. "It's a nice idea, but I promised my friends and family they could be there for me. To see me walk down a real aisle. Do you really want to take that experience away from them?"

"Then they can come too! Please...I just almost lost you, and I never want that to happen again."

Before tears could form in my eyes, I pulled Derek to me and hugged him as hard as I could without hurting him. I kissed him full on the mouth and felt his tongue push its way in, wanting to explore every inch of my mouth. I welcomed it in.

We stayed that way for some time, and when he finally released my mouth, I was gasping for breath. I laid my head on his shoulder as I sucked in ragged breaths, and words came spilling out of my mouth before I could stop them.

I didn't want to stop them. "Yes...I'll marry you."

I felt myself be yanked back, and Derek looked me in the face, his own full of pure joy. I held up a finger, and the joy faltered for a moment.

"But tomorrow. I have a dress I can use, and I can take Rachel and Kay into town to find bridesmaid dresses...And you need to get a suit." He nodded. "Assuming we can do all that in one day...we need to set up a venue. I won't be having my wedding in a courthouse."

"We'll do it here. In the backyard."

I smiled. "You sure this is a spur-of-the-moment thing? You sound like you've been thinking about this for awhile." He shrugged, and I mirrored the action. "Okay then. We'll have the wedding tomorrow, in the backyard of this house. And I want Stiles' dad to officiate."

"Alright. Whatever you want. Just as long as I have you as mine before the night's out tomorrow."

"You will...You most definitely will."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ian! _Ah!"_ Rachel and Kay both hugged me tightly, screaming in my ear.

Kay shouted "My baby sister's getting married! Tomorrow! Oh my god, we need to get dresses and do our hair and make a bunch of food...Why is there not more notice?!"

I took a step back. "Don't blame me! Derek wanted to take me down to the courthouse today and do it privately!" The look on Kay's face made me glad Derek had already left to tell Scott and Stiles, and take them to get suits.

Before Kay could blow up, Rachel stepped in and said "We can enlist Skylar and Tyler and Danny and anyone else we can get to get the backyard ready. Have you got to get a dress?"

I nodded. "I was going to use my mom's dress...It was in with her stuff that we brought over from Westwood..." Rachel gave a small smile.

"Then Kay and I will go into town right now to find matching dresses. You call people and set things up and do whatever you have to do." I nodded.

True to her word, Rachel grabbed Kay and immediately dragged her out the front door of the house. I stared after them, almost unwilling to believe this was really happening. I was going to be married.

I could almost feel my stomach drop.

"Ian?" I spun, my heart leaping into my throat, as my grandmother walked into the hall. I'd been so preoccupied with Rachel and Kay that I hadn't been listening to who was still in the house. "I...heard the good news. Congratulations."

"Thank you..."

I shifted awkwardly from foot to foot as I stared at my grandmother. We still hadn't the chance to really 'catch up' at all, and I wasn't at all comfortable around her.

"Do you really have it..? My daughter's wedding dress?" I nodded and she smiled. "That's wonderful...I can't wait to see you in it. I do miss her a lot..."

"I miss her too...And my dad. But I've got my own family to take care of now...I just hope I'm making them proud with what I'm going to do."

"I'm sure you would make them proud with whatever you decide to do. You have made your grandfather and I proud already." I gave a tight smile as she turned and went back the way she'd come.

I made my way up the stairs, paying attention to what was going on in the house this time, and into my bedroom. I closed both doors and looked in on Little Derek in his crib. He'd been sleeping for quite some time, since before Derek had left. I poked him several times in his little belly and his bright green eyes fluttered open.

"You've been sleeping long enough, pudgy baby. Time to wake up."

_Why?_ I raised an eyebrow and my baby laughed.

"You need to stop acting so much like your daddy, or I'll flick you in the face to wake you up like I do to him." I reached down and picked little Derek up, and plopped down with him on the bed. I sat him on my stomach and said "Mommy's got to get her things ready to marry your daddy tomorrow. I'm gonna be wearing grandma's wedding dress."

He smiled again and pulled at my shirt.

"Hungry?" _Yes._ "Fine, fine..." I sat up and pulled my shirt and bra off one-handed, holding little Derek with the other. I cradled him in my arms and he attached no-problem, being well used to the experience of of brêastfeeding. "I swear, I don't know who gets more time with these, you or your daddy...Don't repeat that!"

I giggled. Looking down at little Derek feeding though, made me stop. Because it made me think of what Derek and I discussed before, about curing our baby.

I'd thought about it more than once since we'd discovered my 'ability.' I knew Derek still thought it wouldn't work, I'd seen him thinking about it quite a few times, but always with a hint of hope. He wanted it to work. He wanted our baby to grow and age at a normal pace, instead of wondering whether we would outlive our son in the near future. Times like those...it made me wonder if it was worth it to be able to read minds.

Little Derek released, and I sat him down on the bed, propped up by one of the pillows. "Now don't you go showing your daddy pictures in his head of what this dress looks like. I want him to be surprised tomorrow."

Little Derek just blubbered happily and I hopped off the bed and went to the big closet. The boxes of my parents' things were piled together in the back, and I went for the one I knew would contain what I was looking for. In one of the bottommost boxes with my mother's name, was a collage of white.

White pumps, matching white pearl jewelry, and in a sealed garment bag...my mother's long white wedding dress. I unzipped the bag and held it up, the faint smell of my mother's perfume emanating from it. It was a one-shouldered gown, with a draping train trailing from the left shoulder, tailored perfectly to my mother's frame. Just holding it up, I knew it would be snug on my curvier post-pregnancy body, but I didn't want to alter it. I wanted to keep it just how she had worn it, in the pictures I had seen of my parents' wedding.

I heard the front door of the house open and close, and two pairs of feet frantically run up the stairs. I was bringing my mother's things into the main area of the bedroom just as the double doors burst open and Rachel and Kay came running through. I saw bundles of blue in their arms.

"So is white and blue going to be the theme of my whole life, or...what?"

They both rolled their eyes. Kay sat down a pair of blue heeled sandals and a jewelry box, and held up a blue knee-length dress. It had a second ruffled layer running from the left shoulder to the bottom right hem, and looked just the right balance between fancy and casual.

"I like it. How did you find something so fast?"

Kay answered. "We went to this boutique downtown, and the saleswoman asked a little about you and him, since we didn't have a clue what color our dressed would be. Since your eyes are blue, that's what we agreed on."

She eyes the white bundle I was holding. "Can we see it?"

I nodded. I sat the jewelry and the shoes on my bed, and held up the gown so her and Rachel could see. "It's a bit wrinkled from being folded up in that box, and it's a bit small..."

"It's still lovely! I wish I had the body to fit into something like that." I felt my cheeks turn bright pink.

"Okay, okay, enough about my body..."

All three of our heads snapped up as I heard the sound of the Camaro pulling up the gravel driveway. I glanced at Little Derek on the bed and made a shushing motion as I quickly wrapped up my dress and hid it back in the closet with the rest of the things.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself. This was going to happen. This was going to happen.

This was actually going to happen.

I leaned against the kitchen sink and stared out at the congregation in the backyard. Rows of chairs, where they had come from I had no idea, were set up facing away from the house. There was no special alter or archway or anything set up, just Derek looking ravishing in a suit beside Stiles' dad. The chairs were filled with Allison and her family, Lydia and her family, and other people Scott and Stiles knew from school. My cousins and the rest of both wolf packs were also there. Even Peter was sitting in the back row closest to the house.

Rachel, Kay, Scott, and Stiles were all in the kitchen with me, waiting for their cue to walk out in pairs.

I felt a hand on my elbow and knew immediately it was Stiles. He'd been unusually chipper today, and I suspected it was because he was trying to overcompensate for not agreeing with the wedding. I didn't need to be able to read his mind to know it.

"You look like you're having second thoughts."

I held back a nervous laugh. "Anything but. I'm happy to finally be doing this, actually...It just doesn't feel complete." I felt his confusion and turned to face him. "My parents aren't here. Derek's parents aren't here. Ryan isn't here...There are so many more people that should be here to see this that aren't. Your mom, for one."

Stiles' face fell. "Yeah...I know what you mean. She would've gone nuts at the sight of me in a suit. At a wedding, that. I think the only thing that would've made it better was if it was my wedding, and not someone else's."

I caught sight of what he was visualizing in his mind, and sighed deeply. He heard.

"I know, I know, I'm not supposed to be thinking of you like that, 'cause Derek will kill me...But I can't help it. I'm the only lonely fûcker in this bunch." I chuckled a bit.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get your chance...Your walking partner there is still single." Knowing Kay had heard, I deliberately looked over to see her blushing deeply. "And let's not forget that there are a hundred single girls at school. Besides, you're not even 18 yet...You still have a long way to go."

He smirked. "You say that, yet you're getting married and have a baby at 17. Remind me how that's not hypocrisy at its finest?" I rolled my eyes. "I'd rather be alone than be with someone I don't really want."

I sighed. "Stiles..."

I was interrupted by the sound of music penetrating the air. It was time for the bridesmaids and groomsmen to make their walk.

Stiles walked away from me and linked arms with Kay, and Scott linked arms with Rachel. He gave me a look of pity before following Kay and his best friend out the back door of the house.

I watched them make the slow walk to where Derek and Stiles' dad were waiting, not being as coordinated as a rehearsed wedding. I was beginning to think that this spur-of-the-moment wedding wasn't such a fantastic idea.

"Ian..." I heard my names called, as is from a distance. "Ian." It was clearer this time, and I turned to see who it was.

_"No._ No! You can't be here..!" A brown-haired, brown-eyed man strode into the kitchen. I knew his clothes, his face, his demeanor...I didn't know how he was here.

"I'm not here, not really." He came to me and touched my hand, and except for a chill on my skin, I felt nothing. "You saw Derek's mother. Is it so hard to believe you're seeing me?"

I felt a tear slip from my eye. "But I saw you dead...You and mom..."

My father put his hands on my face, and I felt the frozen outline of his fingers on my cheeks. "We are dead, yes. But we've been here the whole time, watching everything you've been doing. You just haven't been able to see us until now."

"Is she here? Mom?" My father nodded and faced me towards the window above the sink. My mother waved from her place beside Kay and Rachel, as if she were just a regular part of the wedding. Only she was wearing the clothes she died in.

And that was when I saw everybody else. Not just my mom and dad. I saw Ryan. I saw the kid Danny from school. I saw Derek's mother and father. I saw _everyone._ Every family member and friend that Derek and I had lost in our lives up to this point was there, watching from the shadows, smiles on their faces.

I wiped the tears from my eyes as music started up again. My father took my elbow and said "It's your time to shine, baby."

I nodded and fixed a smile on my face as my father led my outside.

Everyone stood. Living and dead, they turned to face me, the amazement evident on their faces. Derek's face glowed brightest of all. His mouth was spread in a brilliant smile, showing all his teeth, smiling until I thought his face would bust.

I reached Derek and my father handed me off to him. His hand grazed Derek's arm, and Derek's eyes flicked around for the source of the icy touch. I sent him a thought that said _That was my father._

His smile faltered for only a moment. _Your father? You mean...you can see more than my mother now?_

I nodded. _I can see everyone._ Derek and I joined hands, and I shared my vision of what I was seeing. He looked around with wide eyes, seeing everything I was seeing. And when he looked into the eyes of his mother, standing just beside me, I saw tears waiting to be released.

I decided to share the moment. Everyone that knew the supernatural, everyone that had been a part of my journey since I arrived in Beacon Hills, would be able to see. There was a collective gasp as I linked myself to each one of their minds, and they could see all the dead friends and relatives that crowded the backyard of this great house.

Aloud, I said "Now everyone knows they haven't been alone."

We finally turned to look at Stiles' father, whose eyes had been fixated on the woman beside him. A woman with brown hair and eyes exactly the color of her son's. Stiles' mother Claudia beamed back at her husband as he began the ceremony.

I struggled to pay attention and keep up the vision for everyone to see. The effort was straining my mind. I listened to every word Sheriff Stilinski was saying though, and when it came to the part to agree to be Derek's wife, I sighed contentedly and spoke my love-filled "I do."

And when Derek said "I do" right back, my heart swelled with affection. I gripped his hand tight as he placed a ring on my finger that I didn't know he'd bought, and I put the matching one right on his.

Right when Sheriff Stilinski hit the _bride_ part of "You may kiss the bride", Derek grabbed my face in his hands and brought his lips to mine. There were suddenly cheers of joy from the watching audience, living and dead.

My mind was finally beginning to crack from the pressure, and I felt the vision dissipate from the mind of everyone in the audience. It was the last to leave from Derek, who stared at his parents as they both mouthed 'Goodbye.'

Derek hugged me to him as everyone continued to cheer and clap, and tears began to spill from my eyes again. I watched my mother and father hug tightly as well, my mother reaching for me as my father spun her in his arms. I reached back, and our fingers grazed each other just as she and my father faded away.

All the deceased people faded away, but I knew they would be back. They had left so Derek and I and everyone else could properly enjoy the moment, knowing that they had been watching over us every moment before that.

Derek released me and took my hand in his, and we walked through the aisle of people back towards our house. Our _family's_ house where we would have our children and watch them grow and grow old ourselves, until we died and were as peaceful and happy in the next life as my parents were now.

I smiled through my tears. I would finally have my happy ending.


End file.
